


Kangst for the Soul

by Silvershadow989



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Keith (Voltron) Whump, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Korean Keith (Voltron), M/M, Self-Harm, Touch-Starved Keith (Voltron), crossposted on wattpad, will tag as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-22 02:36:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 29,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14298918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvershadow989/pseuds/Silvershadow989
Summary: Oneshots about Keith!! Can include anything but smut.Crossposted from my Wattpad.





	1. “Every step that I take is another mistake to you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Voltron

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Voltron

Keith hummed to himself as he walked to the kitchen on the castle. He had a red towel on his still damp hair and his jacket was being held in his left hand. For once, a small smile was on his face and his normally guarded eyes seemed more trusting. Of course, the only reason he was smiling was that he was alone, Lance was scouting a nearby planet with Shiro, Hunk was helping Coran with keeping the Castle safe, Princess Allura was resting and Pidge was making some new invention. 

He had originally been training but he had gotten hungry and, after a refreshing shower, decided that he had done enough to earn breakfast. As he turned the corner he looked up just to walk into Pidge, who was carrying a robot. When he walked into her, the robot when flying, crashing into a wall and breaking. Keith froze, looking from the ruined robot to where Pidge was staring at the wreck with wide hazel eyes.

"Pidge, I'm sorry, I didn't s—" he was cut off as the shorter paladin turned and glared at him. 

"Didn't what Keith? Didn't see me?! Well maybe you should pay attention to where you're fucking going! Honestly, out of everyone in this stupid piece of shit I expected you to be the only one who actually was aware of your surroundings, or are you more stupid then you seem! Because to not see me, you would have to be blind." She hissed, spitting each word out like it was venom. 

"I—I—I'm s—sorry." Keith forced out, flinching away from her slightly. However, he forced his face to remain impassive and subtly pinched his thigh when he stuttered. "I—I can help you fix it?" He offered, feeling horrible for breaking something she obviously worked hard on. Pidge snorted and picked the broken machinery up, almost cradling it as she violently pushed past him.

"No thanks, knowing you, it would only get worse and there would be no way of repairing it. Besides, you probably would of needed to actually finish that engineering course at the Garrion to understand what I was trying to build." 

Each word felt kinda like she had punched him. Suddenly he wasn't hungry at all. He felt sick. Why didn't he look where he had been going? He gritted his teeth and rubbed harshly at his eyes, hunger forgotten as he quickly walked past the kitchen, not seeing Hunk watch him pass with wide eyes.

POV CHANGE

"What the hell Pidge?" Hunk hissed when he was sure Keith was out of earshot.

"What?" The girl asked innocently, looking at Hunk with startled eyes.

"Don't what me missus, you know that Keith has a hard time with what people might think about him. Yet you had to make it sound like you wanted to strangle him! What the hell?" Hunk asked pointing a metal spoon accusingly at her. Pidge gulped and looked down.

"I guess I was kinda horrible..." she murmured. 

"Kinda? More like 10-headed-fire-breathing-hydra-horrible! What you said was uncalled for and rude!" Pidge scowled. 

"But he broke my-" she started, but was cut off.

"No buts! Keith apologised and you rubbed it in his face! Then he offered to help and you told him he was too dumb! What is wrong with you!" Hunk seethed, trembling. He was rarely this angry, let alone with one of his friends.

"I... I..." Whatever retort she was ready to fire died on her tongue as she remembered the look of hurt that had shimmered in Keith's indigo gaze. She bit her lip and her fingers twitched slightly. "I... I need to apologise..." she whispered, looking down.

"Yes, you do." Hunk agreed. "... I can go and get him if you want..." he offered when the younger girl didn't move.

"I—I'd like that... please..." she finally muttered after a minute of nervous fiddling with her tools. Hunk nodded and headed out the door picking up the forgotten towel and jacket as we went.

It took him a while to find the red paladin, curled up in Reds hanger. Keith's head was buried in his hands and he was trembling.

"..Keith..?" He asked, tentatively stepping further into the hanger. A slightly strangled whine was all he got back, prompting him to come closer. "Are you ok..? Do you... Do you want some space?" Keith shook his head and Hunk walked over too him, sitting beside him and putting a hesitant hand on the older boy's spine. The eighteen year old lent into the warmth his body provided and Hunk smiled slightly and began rubbing Keith's back as the Korean teen began to relax. 

After about five minutes or so, Keith finally raised his head. His eyes were slightly puffy and there were dried tear tracks on his pale cheeks. He sighed quietly and rubbed his eyes before looking at Hunk and offering him a small but sincere smile. 

"... Thanks... I guess I needed that..." he muttered, ducking his head shyly. Hunk smiled and pulled Keith closer too him, wrapping his arm around the boys waist in an enthusiastic hug. Keith froze for a moment before smiling and relaxing, leaning into the taller boy. They stayed like that till Keith's stomach rumbled and Keith face turned red in embarrassment. Hunk laughed and let go of him to stand up and pull Keith too his feet. 

"How about we go to the kitchen and I whip you up the best space waffles there are while Pidge apologises. Yeah?" He asked. Keith bit his bottom lip as he thought for a minute.

"But... she has no reason to apologise... I should of been looking where I was going..." he finally muttered, hunching his shoulders slightly and turning away from the yellow paladin. Hunk sighed and turned Keith to face him, looking serious.

" Keith, Pidge had no right to say what she did to you, you've already apologised, and you offered to help, and thats all that matters. She has no right to yell at you and have a go at you when you offered, or to tell you that your too dumb because you were kicked out of the Garrison. You didn't deserve any of that, and now she needs to apologise to you , ok?" He said, making sure to keep eye contact the entire time. Keith nodded slowly, indigo eyes wide with shock as Hunk began pulling him to the kitchen. Keith was silent the whole way there, and hesitated when entering the kitchen. Pidge was still at the table, talking quietly to Coran. Both looked up when Hunk waltzed through the doors and Coran quickly excused himself when he glimpsed Keith standing in the doorway. Hunk waited as Keith nervously walked in to take a seat opposite to Pidge, looking at the floor the entire time. 

It was silent for a good 10 minutes, giving Hunk enough time to put the space waffle mix in the oven and stare pointedly at Pudge from behind Keith. The bespectacled girl sighed and adjusted her glasses for the nth time before taking a breath and finally looking at Keith.

"Hey, Keith... I'm... I'm really sorry about what I said earlier... I—It wasn't right of me... C—Can you forgive me?" She asked, fumbling over a couple of words. Keith looked at her, guarded indigo eyes studying her face before Keith nodded slightly.

"... You're forgiven." He muttered. Pidge's face broke into a smile so wide Hunk was surprised her face didn't break in half and she quickly ran around the other side of the table to hug a stunned Keith, chatting excitedly about a project Keith could help her with. Hunk caught Keith's eyes and they both smiled at the same time. That was until Hunk realised he had left the waffle batter in the oven too long and pulled out a tray of charcoal. Then Keith and Pidge laughed till Hunk threw one at Pidge, the nimble girl dodging as the door opened to hit Princess Allura in the face. 

___________________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave constructive criticism (but please be nice!! I'm very new to this!!) and a request if you wish?


	2. “I don’t see any cuts” - “Why cut where others can see?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was based of a prompt I got of wattpad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Voltron.

For once, Lance was struggling to sleep. His skincare routine and headphones didn't work tonight, didn't get rid of the sense that something was wrong. He'd already paced around his room, made sure all his products were capped, and checked on blue, but the feeling was still there. He sat on his bed for a minute, absentmindedly observing his lion slippers when the thought hit him. The TV! He probably hadn't shut it down properly! With a relieved sigh he stood up, stretched, and headed towards the rec. room. As he passed Pidge's room he stopped, figuring he'd make sure Pidge was actually asleep and not coding on her laptop. A quick peek revealed the girl was curled up in a ball with her back facing the wall. The frown on her face was gone, instead it was replaced with a lax expression. Lance smiled and hummed quietly as he withdrew his head, continuing forwards on his quest. 

Upon reaching his destination and finishing his quest, Lance frowned when he realised that the sense was still there. With an exaggerated sigh, the cuban teen headed towards the kitchen for a drink, smiling at Coran laying spreadeagled on the floor, sound asleep, as he passed. Quiet talking alerted him to someone else being awake, and judging by the soft quality of it, Lance would safely say it was Allura, probably talking to Shiro or her telepathic mice about Altea. He stepped into the kitchen and quickly made himself some water before gulping it down and stealing a cookie from Hunk's newest batch. No one else would miss it.

After having his drink and cookie he headed back too his room, but a soft whimper like noise made him stop and look towards where it sounded like it came from. Was it possible that Keith was dreaming? Did Keith even dream? He pondered the thought for a minute, forgetting why he was standing there in the first place until he heard another muffled whimper. He quickly made up his mind and slipped inside only to freeze at the sight of Keith , the hem of his shirt in his mouth, with a shard of glass pressed into the skin of his hips and tears rolling down his pale cheeks. 

His hips weren't the only place with cuts, the inside of his elbow, his ribcage and there was a shallow cut on his abdomen.

"W—What the! Keith!" He whispered harshly, frozen to the spot in shock and fear. Keith jumped at the sound of his voice and looked at him with shocked wide eyes. 

"L—Lance!" He squeaked, and Lance would of laughed in any other situation but this was nowhere near funny. He was frozen as Keith clumsily attempted to hide the glass and the cuts, (letting go of his shirt and hiding the glass behind him), but he made the situation worse when he twisted and his body flinched like he's been electrocuted.Lance shook his head and forced his body to move when Keith flinched again and made a wounded noise, sounding less like Voltron's fiery instinct and more like an abandoned kitten. He managed to grab the smaller boy's shoulder, gently, and forced him to face him, ignoring how he was shaking.

Keith was looking down, causing tears to fall off his nose, his eyes, as far as Lance could tell, were closed. He drew his attention away from Keith's face and knelt to look at where Keith had been digging the glass in on his hip, lifting his top up to get a better look. Seven bloody lines marked his skin, and Lance frowned as blood bubbled from the deepest one. He looked up at Keith and then, using his index and middle finger, brought Keith's chin up too look at him in the eye.

"Why did you do it?" He whispered, making sure too keep eye contact, Keith shrugged jerkily and looked away. Lance frowned as the indigo orbs fluttered and his shaking intensified. Keith opened his mouth, and Lance waited to her something, maybe an apology, or a angry comment with subtext that told Lance to leave, but the only noice Keith made was a quiet whining sound. His eyes slid closed and he passed out, falling onto Lance who almost fell over with the unexpected weight. "Keith?" He whispered, shaking the unconscious boy slightly and cursing when their was no answer.   
"Keith!" He said again, louder and bit his lip when Keith didn't react. 

Lance gently picked moved Keith's wrist and tried to find his pulse, cursing again when he felt it, beating weakly against his fingertips. He was way outta his depth here, so he called for someone who he knew would know what to do.

"SHIRO!!" 

POV CHANGE

It only took a couple of minutes for Shiro to arrive after Lance's yell, pushing past both Pidge and Hunk, (who were both frozen) and drop too his knees next to two boys on the floor. 

"What happened?" He asked as he shifted Keith, checking his pulse and hissing when he realised how weak it was. "Nevermind, tell me when Keith's in the clear." He muttered, quickly moving so that he was carrying Keith with his galra arm around Keith's back and his flesh arm around Keith's knees. The small boys head was resting against Shiro's broad chest and his arms were lying limply on his chest. Once he was sure Keith was secure, he stood up, Hunk and Pidge making room for him so he could get Keith out of the room quicker. He then took off at a sprint down the corridor with Lance, Pidge and Hunk on his heels. The pace didn't let up till they reached the imfirmary, where Allura and Coran were waiting with a pod. Coran also has one of the suit holders ready. 

"Do we have time to get him into a suit?" The altean asked quietly and Shiro shook his head.

"No, his pulse is really weak. He needs to get into a pod now." Shiro said, still holding Keith close to him. Coran nodded solemnly and helped Shiro put Keith in the pod. Both stepped back and stared at Keith's pale face, turning away as the other paladins stumbled in. All three looked shook, and Lance was visibly shaking. He looked past Shiro too where Keith was and his whole body sagged in relief.

"So, what happened to my little brother?" Shiro asked, sitting on a chair that Allura had pulled over, and looking at Lance. Lance took a shaky breath and closed his eyes, obviously trying to regulate his breathing. When he opened his eyes again, the panic that had been there had dulled.

"Right, so I was walking round the castle, cuz I had this feeling that something was wrong and it was affecting my beauty sleep. As I walked past Keith's room I heard a muffled whimpery noise and thought he was having a nightmare so I went in to c—check on him a—and..." Lance started twiddling his thumbs and staring at something over Shiro's shoulder. 

"And what Lance?" Shiro probed gently after a minute of tense silence. Lance jumped and flushed slightly.

"H—He was using some glass to... to c—cut himself..." Lance finished weakly. Pidge's horrified gasp seemed to echo his words. "W—Why would he do that?" Lance whispered, sinking to the ground.

Shiro felt sick. He had thought Keith was over it. Keith said he was over it. Had it been a lie? Had something set him off? The thoughts swirling around his head were making him dizzy, and he grit his teeth in an effort to ground himself. He looked at the other paladins.

"When Keith gets out of the pod, we will ask him. We will get to the bottom of this, and we will help him, it'll just take time." Shiro said, inwardly praying that he was right. 

"Ok paladins! Number 4 should be out in about 30 doblashes!" Coran said, looking at the monitor next to Keith's pod. 

"Hey Coran, why did Keith pass out?" Hunk asked, looking somewhat curious.

"Ah, I would imagine it would be from blood loss. If you look on this chart you can see where Keith has been ... hurt..." The older man said stepping back and letting the paladins look at the device.

"So there were cuts pretty much everywhere where it would be hidden by his clothing." Pidge muttered. 

"Is that why he's been wearing his jacket so much?" Allura asked, looking at the chart and then at Shiro.

"I'd say so, probably because of the ones on his elbow." Shiro mused. Lance chose that moment to yawn and stretch.

"Go to bed Lance, we'll wake you when Keith's about to come out of the pod, ok?" Shiro said, and smiled when the taller boy seemed to climb over Hunk to get to a pillow, Pidge joined them soon after and, when Allura left the room, he rested his forhead against the pod and watched his 'little brother' in the pod. Coran left, dulling the lights to allow the younger teens to get a bit more sleep. In the silence, Shiro idly wondered what had caused Keith to cut that bad.

POV CHANGE 

Keith woke up to the sensation of falling. He stumbled out of wherever he had been (pod, he had been in a pod) and almost face planted but strong arms caught him and he fell against a familiar chest. Shiro. He allowed himself a moment to get his bearings and figure out what had happened, the last thing he remembered was waking up from a nightmare. How had he ended up in that pod? He leant away from Shiro and looked around, noting that the other paladins looked a mix between angry annd scared. He looked back at Shiro who was watching him with an unreadable expression. 

"Shiro?" He whispered, confused. He looked up into his brothers grey eyes. "What happened?" He asked louder, turning to look at the others.

"We should be asking you that." Lance muttered, and Pidge nodded.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Keith asked, dread beginning to weigh heavily in his stomach.  He took a step back, away from the other occupants in the room.

"Do you really not remember?" Hunk whispered, wide eyed. He looked scared, but Keith couldn't place why. 

"This might jog your memory a bit." Lance suddenly spoke up. "You almost killed yourself with a razor last night."  
Shit. That's why they were looking at him like that. The had seen him doing that. That's why they looked scared, and why Shiro was being so cold. He took a shaky breath and tried to take another step back but bumped into a solid chest and whirled around to look at Shiro. He backed away, shaking as he looked around frantically for somewhere to hide. 

"Keith!" Pidge's shocked cry had him jumping and thats when he realised he had been subconsciously digging his nails into his upper arms. He jumped again when Shiro grabbed his shoulders and manhandled him into a chair, ignoring the korean boy's struggles. He held him there till he stopped struggling and trying to escape, then knelt in front of him and made sure to look Keith in the eyes as he asked his question.

"Why did you do it?" Keith clamped his jaw shut and shook his head making it clear that he wouldn't answer. "C'mon Keith, don't do this..." Shiro muttered pleadingly. 

"We just want to help you." Lance said from behind him, both Pidge and Hunk humming in agreement. Shiro started rubbing his upper arms, trying to help him calm down and think. He knew he'd have to answer eventually, but he couldn't, not yet. 

Both Shiro and Keith sat like that for a few minutes till Keith's breathing was back to normal and he was more composed. The three younger paladins had hovered, seemingly scared to send Keith back into his panicked state. After taking a few more deep breathes, Keith finally felt calm enough to talk.

"A few weeks ago I started having these... nightmares... about my heritage and stuff. They weren't too bad at first, just mainly me looking at a grave for my parents, but last week... they... they got worse..." 

"How worse?" Pidge asked quietly, moving forward to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Keith took another shuddery breath.

"T—They were about me beginning to get more galran traits... and how you guys were either trying to kill me or begging me to leave. B—But last night it was different... I—I realised that every time you drew blood when fighting me, I would look a little less galra... So when I woke up, I—I decided I would stop myself looking galran before it could begin to happen..." he finished with a whisper, now trembling. Shiro sighed and pulled the teen into a tight hug, muttering reassurances in his ear. The other paladins joined, and ended up laying on top of each other.

"To be honest, whatever you look like on the outside, the inside'll still be the same." Pidge said, words hard to hear because she had her head buried in Keith's chest. "You'll always be my older brother, galran or not." She finished her speech and looked up at Keith, hazel eyes shining with sincerity. Keith took a shaky breath and bit his lip, trying to hold back a sob.

"T—Thank's K—Katie." He managed to whisper as tears began to fall down his face, a small smile making a rare appearance. Now, with his rag-tag team and family, his chest felt lighter and he knew that one day, he'd be ok.


	3. “I didn’t know they already cared”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a spin off for episode one where Keith basically gets more beat up than the episode showed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short, I wrote it last year and dunno how I can improve it but I probably will come back and edit it later.
> 
> I don’t own Voltron.

He looked worriedly at the red lion, at the particle barrier and the nagging doubt almost swamped him. Did the lion want him? Was he not good enough? Did the princess choose wrong? He then frowned and shook his head, disbanding the thoughts as he summoned his Bayard and shield, turning to taunt the so called sentient lion. He turns back quick enough to block a shot aimed at his chest but another catches him in the side and he fights to stay standing. It burns and he wants to curl up in bubble wrap to stop getting bruises and cuts on skin that's already discoloured and scarred. He takes a deep breath, mutters Shiro's catchphrase and attacks the droids quickly and efficiently. Yet reinforcements arrive and his mind sees the only option to stop them being to open the air lock, the droids would end up in space, the Red lion wouldn't. It would be a win-win situation for Voltron, if he could hold on. Another laser hit his chest plate and he flew backwards towards the control panel. With a thought, his helmet has sealed off his mouth opening and started supplying him with air. So he smirks and opens the bay doors.

 

As he predicted, the droids are flung out into space, and he would of followed, if not for his hold on the panel. He groans with the effort of hanging on, looking up at the red lion before a piece of debris hits his head hard, making him lose his grip with one hand as his vision goes fuzzy. He struggles to keep hold, trying to grab the console with his other hand, he almost reaches it before another chunk of what must be rock his his already aching head, and sends him flying into space.

 

He looks around, panicked, and tries to make sense of what's going on. His head is ringing, pounding with the rabid beat of his heart and is side is bleeding - he thinks, it went kinda numb when he first got hit in the head. Then theres a huge white maw opening up in front of him, blue light not helping his headache the red lion swallowed him whole, deposited him on a rather comfy chair, and purred reassuringly in his head, easing the pain. Keith smirked knowingly - feeling exactly what the lion wanted to do - and pushed it forwards.

 

"Good kitty, let's roll".

 

* * *

He watched with bated breath as the hanger door rolled open, revealing the black lion. The sheer size made him want to hide underneath something. He leant against Red, who purred in his mind helping him shake off the hazy vision that refused to completely go away. His side was still numb, but was starting to throb, hot pulses that make him shake ever so slightly. He was grateful for the black wad of gauze that Red had stocked in it's cockpit, and how it hid the fact that he was wounded. He could feel the lion's worry for him, but he didn't really want others to panic, so he kept quiet, and watched.

 

He physically couldn't stop the noise that was torn out of his mouth when the Black lion stood up and roared, the sound feeling like someone was stabbing his skull with white hot knives. He whimpered when the other lions roared, because Red's roar was twenty times louder in his head. It made him want to scream. No one noticed though, and then Allura was alerting them that Sendak had entered the atmosphere, and that they needed Voltron right there and then. So he grit his teeth, pushed everything aside and got on with it, like a good soldier was meant to.

* * *

 

"Defenders of the universe huh? That's got a nice ring to it." Shiro said, smiling at the others. Keith couldn't stop the smile stretching across his own face, even as the adrenaline wave he had been riding crashed. His head - which was now hurting too much for him to even attempt to concentrate - his vision was swimming and his side was burning, feeling like it had acid poured on it. The new bruises sustained from the ion cannon, Hunk bashing into him and the force of punching through metal were making themselves established. He attempted to stand up straighter when Red purred quietly - showing the lion's concern. He looked up, vision whiting out briefly when he moved too fast, and, seeing the others heading inside, attempted to follow them. He took a step, stumbled and fell, yet again jarring his head and he groaned quietly. Why did everything hurt so damn much?

 

He really wasn't aware of the fact that the others came back for him, after he fell. Didn't know that Shiro had carried him to the infirmary where his helmet was pried off along with the rest of his armour. He didn't hear Pidge's worried shout when the gauze that he had haphazardly taped in place was removed. All he knew is that, when he woke up from the cryopod and was given a bar of space chocolate by Hunk, and yelled at by Lance, he felt bad for hiding the fact that he was hurt, he hadn't realised how much they already cared.


	4. I ... I really don’t know...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for blood
> 
> I Don’t own Voltron.

"That's enough for now, he's learned his lesson I think. We'll come back later." The galran guard smirked, looking down at the bloody, beaten form at his feet. His partner snickered and kicked the prisoner again, forcing a grunt from him. The smaller galra then danced away, giggling madly after his taller compainion. Solid yellow eyes locked onto dull indigo ones as the door to the small cell was closed and locked from the outside.

Keith didn't move for a while afterwards, keeping a hazy eye on the door as his mind wandered. He no longer had a clue how long he'd been on the cruiser, due to him being dragged too a new cell some time ago, nor did he know how many beatings he'd had, they all seemed to blend into each other. He tried to take a deep breath, his chest rattling as he coughed painfully. He blinked sluggishly when their was a loud scream and tried to raise his head, to sit up and look around but his body had no strength and he couldn't resist closing his eyes as pain jabbed at his chest and stole his consciousness.

He woke up to guns firing and shouts of pain, blinking when when his cell door was thrown open, a large figure hiding the hallway. It stepped into the room and closer to the teen, yanking him up by his throat and bellowing in his face. He tried to move, to shake his head and explain that he didn't know what was going on but the galra slammed his head against the wall, causing black spots to dance across his vision. He coughed weakly, a warm, metallic liquid collecting in the corner of his mouth as he was choked. His vision began drifting and his hearing faded into white noise. A weak whine was the only noise he could make, a final plea for the guard to just let him breathe. His eyes slid close, and his body went limp, the little fight he had left draining with the little strength he had. Before he passed out again, he muttered three words, barely audible over the sound of fighting.

"Kashi... help... me..."

Keith blacked out.

* * *

 

He wakes up in stages, first feeling the cold of the stone floor (his paladin armour being removed when he was first captured) then, the burning thats coming from his chest and neck. It hurt's. Trying to gasp out a breath hurts more.

The next thing Keith becomes aware of is the smell, mint and ozone - a weird combination, but not unpleasant. His sluggish brain struggles to grasp the important meaning on the smell but it remains just out of his reach. He screams in his head because he can't really remember anything other than his identity and that horrible all-consuming pain that seems to be everywhere. He just wants it to end.

The third thing is the horrible taste in his mouth, it's warm, and the slightly metallic taste had him gagging slightly and he coughed as more of the horrible stuff pooled in his mouth. What was going on?

Both hearing and sight arrived at once, all fractured sounds and blurry shapes with pretty colours. The main thing that drew his attention was the black and white blob that seemed to talk to him. He could make out half word's something that sounded vaguely like his name. He coughed wetly and the metallic stuff started to fall out of his mouth, it's iron scent overpowing the mint and ozone.

'Shiro.... thats who's in here with me...' He realised dazedly.

He could hear Shiro saying something that sounded suspiciously like his name, and he tried to concentrate on what his older brother was saying.

"- eith! You - eed t- lm dow-" He frowned at the jumbled mess and tried harder, relaxing slightly as his hearing came back into focus, with it his sight. He tried to say Shiro's name but coughed up more blood, only managing to whimper his adopted brother's nickname after he'd stopped gagging. Shiro looked frozen, raw fear shining in his eyes but he then growled softly and shook his head, quickly sitting next to the injured boy's head and running his hand through his hair, serving to calm both of them down and check too see if Keith had a head injury. Keith just watched Shiro with dull, half open eyes as he struggled to breathe properly without coughing blood all over the floor.

"I'm going to have to get you out, Pidge is gonna blow this place up soon ok? Once your out we can get you straight to a pod." Shiro murmured after a minute. Keith nodded slightly, eyes fighting to stay open and jaw clenching against noises of pain as Shiro gently picked him up. He continued to try and stay conscious as Shiro stood up and started walking, but he quickly lost the fight, his head falling limply against the older boy's shoulder as everything faded.

* * *

 

The next time he was dragged from consciousness, it wasn't slow like last time, this time he was suddenly in agony, and aware of everything, meaning he was aware of the taller teen trying to hold him still as he struggled to sit up.

"Keith! Calm down!" Lance yelled and he tried to, telling himself that Lance wasn't going to hurt him and taking a deep breath. A breath that he didn't finish as he started coughing heavily, body shaking with the force and throat lighting up with each cough.

Lance cursed and shifted him into the recovery position when he didn't stop, running a trembling hand up through his hair repeatedly. He gagged when he finished and bit back a noise of despair when blood seemed to flood his mouth again.

Lance began moving him slowly, hands careful when touching his body, obviously not wanting to hurt Keith more. He blinked his eyes tiredly when Lance guided his head to rest on his shoulder, with his forehead resting against Lance's neck. Lance rubbed his back, muttering comfortingly as he coughed, and soothing his pathetic attempts to apologise when he ended up coughing up more blood. The only thing he really had the energy to do was let Lance take all of his weight, and try to press his face closer to the Cuban boys neck. Lance didn't say anything about it, he just held him closer and whispered things in spanish. Keith felt his eyes slide close and tried to get closer to Lance, Lance was safe.

The last thing he felt and heard was Lance burying his face in his hair and begging him to be ok.

* * *

 

When Keith next awoke, it was too panicked mumbling that his frazzled brain couldn't begin to understand. He blinked, realising he was laying on something, so he tried to move but a large hand held his chest down. His breathing became harder and he gasped uselessly for breath, panicking a bit. The mumbling voice was suddenly loud and right above him.

"Keith! Relax! It's me! Hunk!" It, or rather he yelled, and Keith froze as the missing pieces clicked into place. Hunk, he was laying on Hunk. He sighed raggedly and relaxed, even as he fought the urge to cough. Hunk's hovering hands then moved, rubbing his arms as he took shallow breaths. Once Hunk knew he was ok, he went back to fiddling with his com, trying to call the castle.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, Keith laying limply and Hunk fiddling with the wires in the com. He was grateful that Hunk wasn't being too overbearing, only putting a hand on his shoulder when his neck hurt too the point that he couldn't breath, then, when the pain became more manageable, Hunk would carry on fiddling. He opened his mouth to say something and coughed instead, coughed again, and then it was a full blown coughing fit, body jerking with each cough and throat burning. Eventually, he gagged and blood flooded his mouth, gagged again and then spat blood. Hunk cursed behind him and rubbed his back, grabbing something as Keith gagged again. He dimly realised it was a bucket before he was throwing up, bringing up mouthful after mouthful of blood. When he stopped vomiting he slumped weakly, and whimpered when Hunk gently moved the bucket and rubbed his back. His throat was burning, worse than when he had been strangled by that guard. He closed his eyes and tried not to move, tried not to do anything other than breathe. Hunk went back to the com, moving with urgency as he shook, Keith coughed again, and prayed that he wouldn't throw up again, to his relief, he didn't. Not this time.

This time Keith willingly fell into unconsciousness, not hearing Hunk let go of the sob he had been holding back as he gently wiped tears of pain off Keith's cheeks.

* * *

 

POV CHANGE

Katie kept an eye on the boy in rags as she flew green away from the battle that was still raging. She dodged a blast from a cannon and broke through the atmosphere, setting a course for where the castle was hiding and jumped out of her chair and over to Keith.

He looked dead, if she was honest with herself, and the only way she knew he wasnt was by taking his pulse (from his wrist, she didn't even think about touching the yellowy/green bruises that were pressed into the skin of his neck) and his skin was five shades too pale, creating a eerie contrast from where blood was falling in thin streams from his mouth. His eyes were half lidded, and she could just about see the dull indigo. It was clear that he had no clue what was actually going on.

The red paladin would cough occasionally, a mouthful of blood splattering down his chest. His eyes started to close and Katie panicked, shaking his shoulders.

"No Keith! Don't fall asleep!" She whisper-yelled. His eyes opened slightly wider than before and he looked around, confused. He coughed, body jerking, and Katie watched helplessly as more blood fell from his mouth.

 **"My paladin, we are now at the castle."** Green murmured as they landed, green immediately dropped her ramp so Coran and Allura could run up into the lion. Coran arrived first, taking in the sight of Keith. He sighed and quickly picked Keith up, muttering an apology when the teen cried out slightly in pain. Coran was then quick to get him too the infirmary and into a pod. Allura guided the shocked paladin into the rec room, sitting her on one of the sofa's and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Katie knew on some level she was shaking and crying, but she couldn't get how bad Keith looked out of her head. She jumped when the door opened, revealing Lance, Hunk and Shiro.

All three boys sat next too her and hugged both her and Allura. "H—He'll be ok... right?" She asked shakily, looking at no one in particular. " I... I really don't know..."


	5. Shiro doesn’t have yellow eyes...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy...

"Dismissed."

The bluntness of Shiro's voice makes everybody's shoulder's droop, even Keith's. Lance watched as the older boy sighed and crouched, picking up his jacket and trying to pull it on. He ran over to help, but Shiro stopped him. He stared at Shiro in confusion, Keith was obviously struggling!

"Keith, stay behind, Lance, get out of my sight." He flinched away from Shiro,  at the anger his tone carried and looked hopelessly at Keith as the korean teen sighed and lowered his head. Lance bit his lip and hurried out the training room, heading towards blue, not realising Shiro had locked the door from the inside. After sitting with blue and letting her sooth his doubts he headed to the kitchen to help with Hunk with tea.

Tonight was some alien pasta type stuff with the space goo, as the castle had limited supplies at the moment.

"Hey dude, can I help you?" He asked as he waltzed in the room. Hunk nodded as he stirred the pasta stuff and added a weird leaf thing.

"Yeah, can you, if possible, get plates out and sort the cutlery out please?" The larger boy replied, slightly distracted with his task. Lance nodded and eagerly set about with his task, leaving seven plates on the side for Hunk when he served, and separating the cutlery into knives and sporks. Once he was done, he leant against the wall as Hunk laid the pasta down on the plates and started carrying them too the food goo station.

"I'll go tell the others that you're serving up!" He chirped, and, at Hunk's nod, he danced back out, heading to the control area to tell Allura and Coran.

"Guys, Hunk's got food ready." He called, and the two alteans turned to look at him.

"Thank you, Lance." Allura said gracefully. Coran echoed her and they both walked towards the kitchen. Lance then headed towards Pidge's room. The youngest paladin answered the door before he could knock and tilted her head too the side.

"Dinner?" She guessed with a slight smirk. Lance huffed and nodded, stepping to the side so that she could get passed. She chirped out a "thanks" as she skipped towards the kitchen.

'Right, that leaves Keith and Shiro.' He thought too himself as he headed towards the training room. As he got closer he could hear Shiro shouting and then broke out into a run, worried that something was wrong. He reached the door and almost ran into Shiro, who had just finished talking too Keith.

“Hey! Dinner's ready!" He said looking up at Shiro. The older man smiled and walked past after thanking him. That left Keith, who looked dead on his feet.

"Babe? You ok?" He asked carefully, and got a nod from Keith. Lance hummed and grabbed the older boy's hand, easily interlocking their fingers and making the paler teen smile. "Let's go get some food, yeah?" He asked, and Keith nodded. They walked in silence too the kitchen, where the others were waiting. The whole time, Keith was silent, which was quite unusual for when the two boys were alone.

"Are you ok?" Lance finally asked after observing the way Keith seemed to duck his head and how he was limping ever so slightly. The korean boy jumped and nodded.

"Why wouldn't I be?" He asked, tilting his head slightly to the left. Lance hummed and kissed his forehead, quickly dismissing the thought from the front of his mind.

"No reason, you just looked deep in thought." He said. Keith looked slightly suspicious but shrugged and they carried on walking to the kitchen. Keith was still quiet though, and Lance idly wondered if it had something to do with Shiro. When they arrived at the kitchen, Keith seemed too loosen up more and started talking happily too Pidge as he got himself some food. Lance couldn't help but feel that Keith was hiding something, putting on a facade to fool the others. He wasn't buying it. Neither was Shiro from the look of it.

After getting his own plate Lance was quick to sit next to Keith, so that he had Pidge on his left and Lance on the right. Keith seemed quite happy to talk about Pidge's new robot invention, and even offered to help. Lance hastily volunteered too, making Pidge pull a face.

"I'll have to deal with both of you being all lovey-dovey? Disgusting." she joked, grinning while she spoke. Keith nodded somewhat gravely while Lance watched the interaction between his boyfriend and his sister figure. He was glad that Keith was finally coming out off his shell more, but still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about the korean boy. He shrugged and took another bite, he'd ask after tea.

* * *

 

After tea was finished he stood up and Keith was quick to follow him. It was Hunk's night to do dishes so they both put them next to the thing that they all used as a sink. He then headed towards the corridor with Keith on his heels.

"Keith, you still need to finish training." Shiro had too stood up, and was looking directly at Keith. Lance looked confused and Keith frowned.

"But he's already trained today!" Pidge said looking inbetween Keith and Shiro with wide hazel eyes.

"He just needs to perfect this techinque I've showed him. " Shiro said, staring at Keith still.

"But Shiro I-" Keith started but Shiro banged his hand on the table, making the indigo eyed boy flinch.

"You said whatever it takes, are you really going to just walk away?" Shiro growled and Keith hung his head, looking ashamed.

"... No..." he replied. He turned to Lance. "Can you wait for me at my room? I shouldn't be too long." He said, looking up at Lance, who nodded slowly, moving too the side to let the older boys past. He contemplated following them but decided that he didn't want to piss Shiro off, so he dejectedly trudged to his boyfriends room, ignoring the urge to follow them If only he'd gone with his gut decision to follow them.

* * *

 

'Not long' turned into four hours. During that time Lance had slept and woken up, gotten a snack and a drink, and walked past the training room more times than he could count. He was drifting when the door slid open, making him jump. He jumped off Keith's bed and moved towards the doorway. He was ready to yell at the boy, not catch him as he collapsed.

"Keith!" He cried, a little too loudly because Pidge was next to him a minute later. She looked Keith over with worried eyes and then thought for a minute.

"Lance, get him inside on his bed, and try and figure out what happened, I don't think that this is exhaustion." She said, sounding serious.

"What are you going to do?" He asked, not looking up as he carefully moved the smaller boy into a better position to be picked up.

"I'm getting Hunk, Coran and Allura, but not Shiro, I have a feeling that he's part of the reason Keith is like this." She admitted, then turned and sprinted down the hall. Leaving Lance sitting in the hallway with his unconscious boyfriend cradled in his arms. After a minute he shook himself and picked Keith up, swiftly moving him onto his bed and then starting to take his jacket off.

He was halfway done when Pidge pushed the others in and locked the door. There was some confused grumbling then the light was flicked on. Hunk was the first to realise where they were and who was lying on the bed. He gasped and hurried over to the couple on the bed.

"What happened?" He asked. Lance shrugged and carried on taking Keith's left arm out of his jacket. Hunk sighed and turned back to Pidge.

"Where is Shiro?" Allura asked, looking around. Pidge took a deep breath and started to explain what she thought happened. Lance tuned her out, instead choosing to brush Keith's hair off his forehead. Under the light, Lance could see the bruises that were starting bloom across Keith's cheek and around his eye. He sighed and grabbed his hand, holding it gently, as if he was afraid it would break or cause Keith more pain.

"Lance?" Allura's call made him blink and look up. The others seemed yo be in agreement over something but he didn't know what.

"Huh?" He said, confused. "Coran thinks it would better to put Keith in a pod, so that he can heal quickly, and Pidge can also look through the security tapes to find out what happened." She explained and Lance nodded numbly, moving and easily picking Keith up, Coran making sure that Keith was as comfortable as he could be before they headed to the infirmary. It was only a short trip and Keith was quickly put in a pod. Lance still remembered how badly bruised the skin had been. It made his blood boil. He sat down next to the pod as Pidge started looking through the security camera. It didn't take long to find out what had happened.

Watching Shiro force Keith to work till he couldn't stand then kick him around made Lance's anger worse. He grit his teeth and stood up, ready to demand to know what Shiro had been thinking doing that to his younger brother. He forced himself to stop and look back at the boy who was suspended in the pod. Keith probably wouldn't want him to yell at Shiro. He stepped away from the door and put his hand on the pod, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before turning and looking at the others.

"Coran, when does he come out of the pod?" He asked, turning to look at the moustached alien.

"Half a varga, my boy." He responded. That meant half an hour, give or take. He nodded and looked at Pidge.

"When Keith gets out then we need to ask him what happened, as far as I know, Shiro would never do that to anyone, Keith especially." He said and Pidge nodded. "Can you scan the castle for anything that could of gotten in and messed with him?" Pidge nodded and cracked her knuckles. Lance turned to Allura. "Allura, can you do a magical scan, see if that has anything to do with it?" Allura nodded, and Lance turned to Hunk. "My dude, were gonna be up late, can you help with that?" He smiled slightly as Hunk nodded.

"What shall I do?" Coran asked, eager to help, Lance thought for a minute.

"Keep an eye on Keith and keep Shiro out if possible." He finally decided and Coran nodded.

"Lance, what will you be doing?" Allura asked.

"I'm going to help Hunk and Pidge." He said.

"I'll alert you all when Keith wakes up." Coran said, and everyone else nodded before hurrying off to do the job that they had been assigned.

* * *

 

Pidge had just finished the scan when Coran said that Keith was going to be coming out of the pod soon so Lance thanked the youngest paladin and ran back to the infirmary, just as the pod opened. Coran caught Keith and Lance was right there too pull the confused paladin into a tight hug. He felt hesitant arm wrap around him and the shaky sigh as all the tension left Keith's body.

"You're ok babe..." he muttered. Keith nodded against his shoulder and mumbled something quietly. "What?" He asked, pulling away so he could see Keith. Watery indigo hues looked right back as Keith took a deep breath.

"I said... that wasn't Shiro..." He replied.

“What makes you say that?”

"Shiro doesn't have yellow eyes..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an AU where the Shiro rescued in season three is a Galran that Haggar changed using magic. The paladins are back in their original lions.


	6. Still here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Voltron

The bright festival lights hurt Keith's eyes, making him blink and rub his eyes every few seconds. They weren't like normal lights from earth. These light were a black sort of colour, and had lead to Pidge making a joke about how it was his soul or something. He hadn't really understood, and had laughed uneasily along with the others, not meeting Lance's eye as he pulled his hand out of the loose grip the other held it in.

He had slipped away when Allura had came back and told them too mingle with the crowd, hiding in one of the quieter areas. Red purred soothingly too him, helping him bring his anxiety down to a manageable level as he took in where the other paladins were. 

Allura and Coran were talking too Queen Harvama. Keith was willing to bet that they were trying to make another alliance. The Glacians seemed to be the one race the Galran's wouldn't actively fight against, making them great allies. Glacian's kinda looked human, but their skin was way too pale and they had similar markings to Alteans, but the markings were a vast arrange if colours. Their eye colour was varying shades of blue and they some of them had galran ears and tails, but they were both fluffy. Female glacians tended to be taller and have brighter marking then males.

Shiro was talking to some regal looking Glacian, who had dark eyes and spiky hair. The alien said something and Shiro laughed, the sound making Keith smile ever so slightly. 

He then caught site of Pidge, who was talking animatedly to a small group. If Keith had to guess, he would say she was explaining something science related that he had no clue of understanding. Whatever it was, the whole group was entranced. 

Hunk was over by the food stores, trying free samples and purchasing more food to stock up the castle with. Keith then looked for the last member of team Voltron and was kinda shocked to see him surrounded by female glacians. The blue paladin had a girl on each arm and was laughing at something one of them had said. He took a shaky step back has his heart clenched. Lance was his boyfriend, why was he surrounded by girls? Why did he look so happy? Did he actually want a girlfriend who would hold his hand and understand his jokes and be everything that he wasn't? 

Red growled in his mind, taking his attention off Lance.

"My Paladin, stop fretting, Blue's cub wouldn't do anything like that." He soothed, and Keith sighed, suddenly feeling tired. He decided to head back too the castle, and then told the others in his comm. Various replies were heard as he concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. But someone walked into him and some sort of pore fell over both off them. The glacean growled and they both carried on walking. He suddenly felt drained and his vision tilted. 

Later he wouldn't remember the two aliens who grabbed him and injected him with something, it felt like a fire underneath his skin and it hurt. A lot. He was too focused on the pain to realise he'd just been dumped outside the castle, left lying there like some broken toy.

___________________________

Lance had panicked when they had gotten back too the castle and found Keith sprawled in the dirt. He'd ran ahead and checked on the older boy. His breathing was fine, but his pulse was a little too slow for Lance's liking. Coran had dismissed it and told Lance to take Keith too his room and too let him sleep, so he had done as suggested and carefully picked up the red paladin, leading the way inside but veering away from the others, who were all heading too the kitchen too see what Hunk had brought.

Lance gently deposited Keith on his bed and kissed his forehead. If Keith seemed a bit hotter than normal  
than Lance didn't say anything too the others, he just said that Keith was resting. He told them not too worry and that he was fine. Boy he had been wrong.

An hour later had Lance and Shiro talking about languages of all things, Lance explaining that he was fluent in Spanish and Shiro admitting Keith was fluent in both Korean and Japanese, when a bang drew their attention. They both turned too look where the source of the noise had come from and gasped.

I don't feel too good", Keith muttered, grasping the doorway to stay on his feet. His head hung low as he struggled to keep himself from puking.

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked as Lance jumped to his feet and rushed to his boyfriend's side, but he was a second too late - the blue and black paladin watched as Keith's knees buckled and he hit the ground, limp. Lance cried out in alarm and pulled Keith closer too him, prompting Shiro to jump up and run over too the younger boys. He put his flesh hand in Keith's forehead and cursed in Japanese.

"He's burning up, go tell Coran to get the infirmary ready, I don't know what caused this." He said, looking up at Lance. Lance nodded and sprinted down the corridor.

POV CHANGE

Shiro watched Lance run off before turning back to his unconscious brother. His pale skin was too pale, and covered in a thin sheen of sweat. He sighed and then moved Keith, laying him against his chest as Keith's body shook. He coughed and groaned, rousing slightly as Lance came running back with Coran. The altean scanned Keith with a device and frowned as it beeped.

"Well Number 4 doesn't seem to have an illness." Coran finally said, looking at the semi conscious korean leaning against Shiro. Lance frowned in confusion.

"But then what's wrong with him?" He asked, looking worriedly at Keith.

"I can't say for sure, but a few tests should help get to the cause of it." Coran said, standing back up. Lance nodded as Shiro stood up, now carrying Keith. Keith looked around dazedly, then mumbled "Kashi" and closed his eyes. Shiro took a deep breath to steady himself and tried not to think about the last time Keith had called him that. It was the first time that he thought Keith was going to die.

Shiro shook his head and caught up with Lance and Coran, careful not to jostle Keith too much. They quickly arrived at the infirmary, where Shiro laid the yet again unconscious boy on a bed. Coran then started getting carious medical appliances from cupboards and draws around the room while Lance sat on one of the chairs next to Keith's head. Shiro watched as he carefully brushed Keith's hair out of his eyes and murmured something in spanish. Shiro sat opposite too him, and watched as Lance linked his and Keith's fingers, bringing their hands up and resting his forehead against the back of Keith's hand. Shiro sighed and watched as Coran stepped forward with a small handheld device.

"This'll do a basic scan for any sort of poison." The moustached man said softly, eyes shining with sympathy fir Lance. Shiro nodded and moved, allowing Coran to attach the reader to the inside of Keith's wrist so it could scan the red paladin. It took a few minutes, and the matchine humming softly as it took a reading. It beeped after a minute and Coran gently removed it and pressed a couple of buttons. Both Shiro and Lance watched the colour drain from his face. 

"O—Oh my..." He muttered, shocked.

"W—What?" Lance asked, voice trembling.

"W—Well it certainly is poison... but... not anything that I've seen before..." Coran said. "I'm sorry, I don't know how too help him..." 

Lance stared at him with watery eyes before turning back to Keith, who's breathing was shallower than before. That's when the dam broke and Lance burst into tears.

"Wait!" 

All three heads snapped to the doorway, where Allura was standing with the Queen and another Glacean. She was holding a small vial filled with clear liquid. "This will help him" the Queen continued and daintily stepped in through thr door, the smaller glacien and Allura following. She gave the vial to Coran who looked at it then at Keith.  
"He must have it injected into his bloodstream ." She said, stepping back to stand next too the other occupants in the room, Pidge and Hunk were watching anxiously from the door. Lance was watching with wide eyes, even as tears streamed down his cheeks, as Coran carefully injected the contents into the vein in Keith's wrist (after making sure it wouldn't kill him, if course.)

Everyone watched with bated breath as Keith's breathing evened out and his somewhat tensed muscles relaxed. Shiro reached over and found Keith's pulse, slumping with relief and smiling tiredly at Coran as the Korean boy's pulse bead steadily against his fingertips. As he took his hand away Keith stirred, his eyes opening the slightest as Lance yet again started crying and moved too hug him, burying his face in Keith's hair. Shiro looked at Hunk and Pidge, smiling when he saw them both hugging Allura and crying with happiness. His gaze drifted over to Queen Harvama and the glacian with her, taking note of the differences between both of them. He'd ask them questions later, when Keith was well - rested and raring too go.

For now he was glad that Keith was still with them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so, if like, you have a prompt or a request or even a question, feel free to ask!! I want to make my writing better so any help will be nice, have a nice day/night!!!
> 
> On a side note, sorry if this doesn't make sense. I don't think it flows that well but I didn't really know what to do to make it better. Sorry.


	7. “Consider this”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was requested by hans. I hope you enjoy it!!
> 
> I don’t own Voltron.

Keith woke with a loud gasp, sitting bolt upright as he panted before he groaned and buried his head in his hands. He blinked back tears and realised how much he was shaking. Fuck, that was some nightmare.

 

He focused on calming his breathing down, keeping his eyes closed as he did so. After a couple of minutes, he could breath normally and was no longer shaking. He looked around and registered the fact that he was in the training room, on the floor. What the hell?

 

Standing up took effort, and Keith couldn’t stand properly without leaning against the wall. He groaned as a wave of vertigo hit him, and tried not to gag. He was not going to throw up. He blinked and slumped against the wall, one hand covering his mouth. A stupid dream wasn’t going to make him throw up.

 

“Keith?”

 

Keith’s head snapped up at the sound of Lance’s voice. Lance was wearing the lion pyjama’s and was carrying a blanket and pillow, was he going to Hunk’s room or something? The red paladin suddenly closed his eyes and gagged, making Lance look at him in worry and take a step forward.

 

“Keith? Are you ok?”

 

Dull indigo met ocean blue and Lance knew from that look alone that Keith was anything but ok. But, the stubborn teen nodded and Lance shrugged, figuring Keith just wanted do deal with whatever was wrong alone. That was how Keith worked, right?

 

Keith wiped his mouth with an ungloved hand. He looked Lance up and down again and blinked.

 

“W—Where you going?” He asked, wincing at how rough his voice sounded. Lance shrugged, not even seeming phased by how bad his voice was. He shruggedinternally, used to the blatant ignorance that everyone seemed to carry when dealing with him. It didn't mean he didn't like it though.

 

"Eh, we're halfway through a movie, then we're sleeping in the rec room." The taller teen said lazily.

 

"Oh... Can I-"

 

"Look, douchebag, I'm missing the movie. We can talk tomorrow." Lance said, interupting him and walking off in a clear dismissal. Keith watched him, wide eyed and what he'd done wrong.

 

This time he didn't bother blinking back tears.

* * *

 

 

Over time he got used too it, how the entire team seemed to leave him out of things. He never got hugged after coming out of a pod like the others did. He was never offered a high five. Hunk never cooked with him, and Pidge never asked him for help. Lance only spoke to him to insult him, and Shiro only spent time with him if they were training. Allura and Coran didn't seem to realise he even existed unless he fucked up somehow.

 

So he retreated, feeling like an outsider looking in on a family. He spent more time training and talking to red than anything else. The sentient lion would remind him to do basic human things that his body needed like eat and sleep, because he would forget. He grew used to only having a telepathic lion as company, and slowly stopped being fazed by everything else. He just wasn't worth their time.

 

* * *

 

 

"There, you're all checked up, my lad!" Coran said as he stepped away from the alien on the infirmary. Massive pink tinted eyes stared back as their mouth streched into a toothy smile. The small child chirped it's thanks to the altean and jumped of the bed, running back over to where Keith and Lance were both in separate pods. It pressed it's face against the pod door and sat there. The elder sibling, walked over and chirped at it. The alien language was lost on the three remaining paladins, who thought that they sounded like birds. That and the fact that they had wings and claws instead of regular nails only cemented the fack that they were bird like. But their slitted eyes and cat like ears gave them a very distinct look.

 

Both siblings were wearing prisoner rags from the galran slave ship. The elder, however, was taller and than Lance by an inch, and had dark purple hair that came down to the small of her back with the same colour wings, with silver eyes and a light green skin tone. She could speak english, (but only learnt it after kissing Lance) and had said her name was Nightshade, so Pidge had immediately dubbed her has 'night'. The younger sibling was a couple on inches shorter than Pidge and had cyan coloured hair and wings with bright pink eyes, it's skin colour was also light green. It couldn't speak English, so Night was often translating things for it. It could, funnily enough, understand them all. It's name was just 'Blue'.

 

While both aliens looked fine, and had been pronounced as fine by Coran, Shiro knew from the guarded look in the females eyes that she'd been fighting, most likely in the arena. He could also tell that there was something wrong with the youngers wings, as it would making a whimper like sound every time Night brushed her fingers through it.

 

The pods beeped, signalling they had a minute or so left, so Night and Blue moved so that both paladins had space when they came out. Narrowed silver eyes picked up on how the three remaining paladins and two alteans crowded around the Blue Paladins pod, but not the Red Paladins, and when they both opened, how the Blue Paladin was caught and the Red Paladin was left to stumble out. Blue let out a distressed chirp and how the Red Paladin was being seemingly ignored, and Night the inside of her cheek so it didn't say anything. Why were they ignoring one of their own?

 

After he finished chatting to the Blue Paladin, the Black Paladin turned to watch the Red Paladin stand up, even though his legs were shaking. Blue tilted it's head, and Night knew it had seen the hopeful glimmer become buried under a myriad of emotions. Blue let out another, softer chirp.Night ran her fingers through it's hair in agreement. She didn't understand either. Blue made a nother noise, a quiet cawing sound, and she laughed, nodding her head. Yes, they would help the Red Paladin if no one else would.

 

As if in agreement, the others walked out of the room leaving the RedPaladin alone with the two aliens. Night didn't like that none of them asked the still shaking boy if he was actually ok, and that the Green Paladin asked Keith too 'give the two aliens a tour while we all wait for Lance to get in the shower and then have some food.' Both Night and Blue had been wide eyed at the dismissive tone used. A doblash ago she had been whispering softly to the princess. It was like the Red Paladin was not allowed on the ship!

 

"Who..?" The Red Paladin croaked after their retreating forms, but they either didn't hear him or just ignored him. Blue chirped again, louder and sounding more high pitched than before, making the Red Paladin jump and turn around. He stared at them for a minute before blinking. Night decided to used that opportunity to save him.

 

" Hello Red Paladin, I am Nightshade, but the Green Paladin calls me Night. This is my younger sibling Blue." Blue chirped and waved again happily, and some of the confusion dissaperated off his face.

 

"I'm Keith, the Red Paladin of Voltron." He said quietly. Blue took that as a que to hop over too him, chirping non-stop, Keith looked at Night for help, eyes comically wide and Night laughed.

 

" It's a pleasure to meet you Keith, and don't worry about Blue, it's in its nature to be curious. It just wants too know why you were left unattended after being put in a pod." Night said, finally coming away from the wall. Keith looked confused for a moment and then blinked in realisation.

 

"Ahh right... I'm more of... More of an outsider than part of the 'family'." Keith muttered, looking bitter.

 

"Why?"

 

"Dunno... I just don't fit in... Anyway, let me show you around." Keith said, quickly walking out the room, Blue looked distressed again, feathers ruffled and Night sighed, chirping reassuringly at him. They'd get to the bottom of it.

 

* * *

 

 

Over the next week and a half, Night observed the was Keith seemed to linger on the outside of rooms, and how rude the other occupants of the castle were. She could tell from looking at Keith that he probably hadn't grown up surrounded by family, so his social skills needed a bit of improvement, but the other Paladins didn't do anything to help that. Game night? Not asked to join. Movie night? Not asked to join. Just lounging around? Not asked. It made Night angry that the paladins were being so incredibly rude to her friend like that, yet, when she asked, the Blue Paladin, Lance, scoffed and went on to pretend that he didn't know a Keith. She was pretty sure her and Blue were only ones who saw Keith quickly walk out. When her sharp eyes caught the tell-tale wetness on the gloved hand that wiped his eye, she hissed as her anger exploded. Blue was quick to reconise this and ran out after Keith both to hide from her ire and made sure his favourite paladin was ok. As soon as the door shut Night stepped into the middle of the room and cleared her throat.

 

" What the hell is wrong with you all!" She yelled angrily. Hunk jumped off the sofa and Lance sitting up straight and staring at her in shock. Shiro and Pidge both shared a glance before putting their respective devices away. Allura and Coran both looked scared.

 

"What?" Lance asked.

 

"All of you treating a fellow member of your team like he's nothing, like you're all high in society and he doesn't deserve too be seen with you! It makes me so mad! Because all he does is sit in his lion! Or sleep in his room! He never sits with you and it's probably because Lance makes hurtful comments about him! Keith doesn't deserve that!"

 

"Night, I think you're missing something..." Shiro started and she whirled around to stare at the Black Paladin.

 

"I'm missing something! I've spent more time with him then you lot combined, and you are meant to be his brother! I wouldn't even dream of leaving Blue alone like that! And that's not because he's part of my flock, no, but because he's an avian and on my planet you never leave anyone left out!"

 

Shiro blinked, astounded by the venom in her voice. Lance cleared his throat.

 

"Consider this, he's an emo loner who doesn't want to spend time with us." Lance said, looking almost bored. Until Night turned to him.

 

"Consider this: he doesn't know he's alowed to join in, consider that he thinks none of you want anything to do with him so he keeps out of your way. Consider the fact that he knows you have self worth issues so he tries not to 'show you up' so you can happy and smiling and praised for putting minimal effort in the the Princess tells him to 'train harder' or 'be better'. Consider that he thinks he's done something wrong to all of you, and doesn't know how to fix it."

 

Lance shut his jaw so fast it clicked. Night didn't even blink, just continuing on with her rant.

 

"Besides, you you don't just leave him out, you blantently ignore him. Leaving him to fall out of a pod by himself, alone and disoriented. You don't acknowledge when he walks in a room, don't talk to him when you all eat. The only thing I've ever heard Lance mutter too him is insults and jibes that eat away at him. He no longer bites back because last time he did, Allura hit him for 'insulting' Lance when Lance makes fun of his hair and what he wears daily? And Lance insults him because he doesn't like women, and has never been in a relationship? That's favouritism. All of you shower Lance in stuff he thinks he needs and coddle him out of fear that he could 'have a breakdown' or 'try to hurt himself. This past week and a half, me and Blue had to coax Keith out of both. I strongly suggest you go and start fixing the damage you've all caused with your ignorance towards your Red Paladin." With them words she walked off, exiting the room.

 

The remaining Paladins and alteans shared a glance.

 

"Do we... Do we really treat Keith that bad?" Katie finally asked. She took a shaky breath and looked at the others. "B--Because... If we do then... Well... What if he doesn't accept us apologising?" Hunk sighed in agreement. Lance took a deep breath and let it out shakily.

 

“Why didn’t we realise..?” He asked, and Shiro shook his head.

 

“I don’t think that we made it clear too him about that he doesn’t have to be invited...” The black paladin stood up. “Come on guys, lets all go apologise and then watch a movie.” A chorus of ok’s was heard and the others stood up.

 

“.... Where would Keith be?”

 

“He’s with his lion at the moment.” Allura said softly. Shiro nodded in thanks and they all ran down the hall.

 

They ran past Night and Blue, who were eating in the kitchen area. They barely heard Blue’s questioning chirp, just carried on running too red’s hanger.

 

Shiro got there first, stopping when he realised red had put her shields up, not letting them in. He ignored the various cries of dismay from the others and leant against the shield.

 

“Please red, let us apologise. Let me apologise to my brother.” He murmured then staggered back as reds voice filled his head.

 

“You dare to call yourself my paladin’s brother! After you abandoned him!” The fury in the sentient lion’s voice shook him too his core. He stumbled, lights flashing before his eyes so he closed them, vaguely aware of the others crying out too.

 

“Red! Stop it!”

 

The lights stopped at the sound of Keith’s voice. Shiro slowly opened his eyes. Keith was standing in front of him facing red. He was talking in a hushed voice it the sentient lion, and the lion was purring, loud enough for Keith’s rushed words to be drowned out.

 

Keith must of said something red disagreed with, for the purring stopped and red gently butted Keith with her nose. Keith sighed and red finally moved. Keith then turned to face them all.

 

Only to stagger back as Pidge hugged him tightly. The Korean boy stared at the brunette before looking at the others with wide- eyes.

 

“W—What’s going on?” He asked, slowly wrapping his arms arounf the younger girl.

 

“Nothing Keith, we just need to apologise to you.” Shiro said, taking a step forward and resting his hand on Keith’s shoulder.

 

“Why? You didn’t do anything. At least, not anything that I deserved.” Keith said back. Lance gaped at him.

 

“Uhm, no. I forced you to come out to the entire team, the belittled you about it. I make snide comments about you and constantly try to get you into trouble. The entire team has left you out of things, naïvely thinking you don’t want too cone when you didn’t know you could. Everyone takes your word for something that obviously isn’t true. All that was wrong of us. You may not be the best at social interaction but you still are human. We were wrong to assume, that’s why were sorry.” Lance took a step forward, his eyes screaming sincerity.

 

“But I deserved it.” Keith murmured. His voice was suddenly too loud in the hanger.

 

“Why?” Pidge asked. She looked up at him, watery hazel eyes wide.

 

“Because I wasn’t good enough.” The honesty in Keith’s voice took Lance’s breath away. How could someone like Keith think that?!

 

“Keith, the only other person on this ship who has a chance of beating me is you. Your lion is the fastest, and you were the quickest to form a complete bond with Red. You put yourself before others and always do what you think is right. Your honest and kind, loyal till death, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re perfect the way you are.” Shiro said, pulling Keith into a hug. Keith didn’t say anything, he didn’t need too.

 

“Now can we watch a movie, all of us?” Hunk asked hopefully. Keith nodded, discreetly wiping his eyes.

 

“Can we watch Aladdin?” He whispered and Pidge nodded enthusiastically, grabbing his wrist and starting to drag him to the rec room. Keith turned his head and hopeful indigo met ocean blue eyes, both boys allowed themselves too smile.

 

Keith wouldn’t miss out on things ever again.


	8. You’ve not seen him scared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Voltron

Shiro sighed from where he sat at the table. The hearty yells from the alien race made it hard hear what the Hart was saying next to him, and the crowd made it hard to see the other paladins. He finally stood up and looked over the Hart's heads. He found Lance easily, the blue paladin was surrounded by girls, and he was sitting by the bar area. He watched as Lance chatted animatedly, his hands waving around. The female Hart's were entranced, gasping out when needed. Hunk and Pidge were next too him, both adding their own bit when Lance forgot what happened. The three paladins looked quite content, but Shiro felt like someone was missing. He looked around, cool gray eyes scanning the ballroom for red and white armour. His eyes finally landed on Keith, watching in confusion as he was dragged out of the room. The red paladin was stumbling and the whole spectacle set of alarm bells in his head. He kept his eyes on the doorway as he turned his com on.

 

"Guy's we've got trouble. Someone just dragged Keith out the room."

 

"Dragged? You sure? I last saw someone getting him to drink something neon blue. He could just be drunk." Lance reasoned.

 

"But why take him out the room? Surely if Keith was drunk then he would be helping him too one of us? And why would Keith even get drunk in the first place? Keith isn't careless, I think Shiro's right when he said that something's up." Pidge said, standing on her chair too look around herself.

 

"What should we do?" Hunk asked quietly, barely audible over the chatter.

 

"Split up, Lance and Pidge, go through the right arch and turn left, me and Hunk will turn right." Shiro said.

 

"Got it, we staying on coms?" Lance asked as he stood up too. The three of them headed in his direction.

 

"Yeah, Keith was still wearing his helmet, he might try and contact us. Lets go." The four of them fought their way too the right arch and then out into the much less crowded space. The two pairs nodded at each other and split up.

 

"Lance, Pidge, stay close close to each other, we don't know what happened." Shiro said quietly, keeping an eye on Hunk as they moved stealthily down the doorless hall.

 

"Got it!" Pidge chirped and Lance shrieked.

 

"He didn't mean climb me!" He squawked, and Hunk chuckled. Shiro smiled when Lance and Pidge giggled, but it didn't sooth the worry eating at him.

 

POV CHANGE 

 

Hunk sighed, as he turned another corner, this doorless corridor was getting annoying.

 

"Our side of the arch is clear Shiro, all the rooms are empty and dusty." Pidge reported and Lance sighed.

 

"Ok, start heading back this way." Shiro said as they turned another corridor.

 

"Rodger" They both said.

 

"Shiro, look..." He suddenly said, staring at the two doors that were sitting innocently at the end of the corridor.

 

"I see them, you take one, I'll take the other." Shiro murmured softly. Hunk nodded and moved to the left door, Shiro standing in-front of the right. He took a shaky breath and pushed the door open. In the light he could faintly see a body chained too the wall and his heart jumped into his throat when he realised it was Keith.

 

The raven had been stripped of his armour, leaving him in his flight suit. He didn't look injured from what Hunk could tell, but he was still shackled too the wall. He quickly moved and broke the shackles. He caught Keith before he hit the floor but Keith made a strangled sound and tried to move away from him.

 

Hunk watched with wide eyes as his limbs jerked, refusing to move properly. He watched as Keith fell against the wall. Watched as Keith began to sob and whimper, begging with a broken sort of tone. He crawled closer to the Korean, trying to make himself appear non threatening. It worked until he got close enough to touch the red paladin. His hand brushed Keith's leg and the Red Paladin began crying louder. Hunk shakes and tears up. He hated seeing his friend like this. He scoots closer.

 

"Buddy, it's me." He said, taking a gentle yet firm hold of Keith's face. With his thumb, Hunk slowly wiped away the tears dripping from red - rimmed eyes. It broke his heart seeing Keith in such a state: too scared and too drugged to even properly fight. "Listen to me, i'm not gonna hurt you. You're my friend and I'm not gonna let anything happen too you. I'm here to get you out, ya hear me?"

 

 

Keith stared at Hunk with dazed eyes, obviously not really recognising him. He contemplated calling Shiro , but then there was a bang. Keith whined and flinched, pressing himself against the wall more if possible. Hunk looked at where the noise had come from. Too his surprise, Shiro had pinned a Hart too the wall and was snarling something in his face. The little alien looked terrified, and was rambling about how he'd been paid to do the job.

 

"I don't care who paid you, what did you do to him?!" Shiro hissed, and the alien flinched when Shiro pressed him against the wall harder.

 

"N—Nothing bad! Grat just give serum that make scared! But he resist so Grat friend shock him and hurt him! Grat no do wrong!" Grat wailed. Shiro clenched his teeth and threw the smaller thing to the ground and stalked over too Hunk and Keith. Keith was watching him and shaking but he seemed to calm down slightly when Shiro crouched down nearish and began talking soothingly to the terrified teen. Hunk backed off slightly, giving them both space.

 

"kiiseu, kiiseu nae mal deullyeo?"(1) Shiro finally said, loud enough for Hunk to hear and Hunk blinked at the language. Keith seemed to relax fractionally and he nodded.

 

"Silo? ulileul eodi?" (2) he mumbled. Shiro shuffled closer, continuing to talk in the foreign language till Keith moved forward and hid his face in Shiro's neck. Shiro sighed quietly.

 

" Jamja leo gaseyo Kiiseu, naeil gibun-i naajilgeoya." (3) Shiro muttered, standing up with Keith finding and harnessing his inner koala, wrapping shaky arms and legs around the black paladin. He muttered something sleepily into the older boys neck and then was out like a light. Shiro finally turned to Hunk and the others. He looked at the three youngest paladins almost critically before looking at the boy in his arms. "I don't want you three mentioning this too Keith. The drug should be out of his system by tomorrow, so he shouldn't remember anything that happened tonight. I don't want to chance them returning because if some careless comment." He finally said quietly.

 

"Wouldn't dream of it Shiro. I hated seeingKeith like that." Pidge said softly. The glare on her glasses prevented him from seeing the tears gathering in her eyes. Lance had nothing to hide his eyes and the tears gathering there.

 

"I'm never gonna tease him about being scared again." The cuban buy murmured and jumped when Shiro snorted.

 

"You haven't seen Keith scared. That was nothing." Shiro muttered darkly. He walked past the others. "For now we just need to make sure he's happy."

 

The three of them nodded numbly and followed after him, lost in their own thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation courtesy of Google Translate so it may not be accurate.   
> (1) Keith, Keith can you hear me?  
> (2) Shiro? Where are we?  
> (3) Go to sleep Keith, you'll feel better tomorrow.
> 
> If I was to write a Klance soulmate AU story, would any of you read it?


	9. I’m not going anywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Voltron.
> 
> This was done as a request from Crazy_By_Nature who wanted touch starved Keith. I’m not sure if I did it right but I hope they enjoy it!

When she woke up, Pidge felt like something big was going to happen today.  Surprisingly, it was a good kind of big thing, which was strange considering the whole Galran issue.

 

She stood up, got changed and scrambled over the mountain of robotic parts that was between her and the door. No robot was getting between her and food.

 

Once she got out her door she brushed the dust off herself and headed towards the kitchen. She hummed too herself as she walked and wished she had grabbed her laptop too continue looking for her dad and Matt. A pang of homesickness shot through her and she shook her head rapidly to clear it. Nope, not thinking about that. She sighed and carried in walking towards the door, where she could faintly smell something heavenly. Hunk had to be cooking. That was the only logical explanation. She fixed a small smile on her face and pushed the door open.

 

Hunk was, in-fact, cooking breakfast this morning. Shiro and Allura were also up, talking quietly together with their heads bent towards each other. Coran was eating his food goo in the corner of the room. Pidge swore he was the only one who actually liked that stuff. Lance and Keith were both sitting at the table, and Lance looked like he was trying to encourage Keith to eat. Keith looked a bit too pale and, well, just ill in general really. She frowned at the thought of her older brother being ill. Keith wasn't allowed to get ill.

 

"Hey Pidge!" Hunk said enthusiastically, giving her a plate with purple goo and what looked like wood floating in it. "I made breakfast, it should taste like omelettes." He continued and Pidge smiled wider and thanked him. She sat at the table opposite the two boys and used the opportunity to observe the Korean boy. 

 

Keith's eyes were glassy, and if she had to guess, she'd say he was running a fever. The light bags under his eyes told her he probably hadn't slept well and the way his arm seemed to be wrapped protectively around his stomach led her to believe he either felt sick or had already threw up, but she was leqning towards the former. Lance had one arm wrapped around his shoulders, and the other rubbing the arm that was hanging limply.

 

"Keith, c'mon, you need to eat." Lance murmured quietly and Keith shook his head. Lance sighed, and Pidge knew he'd probably been trying for a while. "Just half of it, please? You need to eat so you'll feel better quicker." Keith shook his head again and glared slightly at Lance.

 

"No." He muttered in a hoarse voice that had Lance sighing again.

 

"C'mon, you'll have everyone stop worrying about you, and you can watch movies in the rec room later." Lance said softly, hoping the bribery would be enough for Keith too eat. It was, luckily, and Pidge smiled slightly as Keith took a small spoonful. She then quickly began to eat so she could go get her laptop, today was a find her family day.

 

After her breakfast she quickly thanked Hunk and told Keith to get better quickly and then rushed out the door. She legged to back to her room, her sneakers slapping against the floor. Reaching her room in record time she danced madly around piles of spare parts too her laptop, cheering when she reached it and then making her way back. She hugged her laptop carefully and walked back too the kitchen, but veered towards the rec room when she heard coughing. She thought it was Keith, but someone else could be sick as well.

 

As she got closer she heard the muted muttering from a movie the Alteans had helped them install and the quiet chatter of voices. She poked her head inside and smiled at the sight of Keith and Lance curled up on the sofa seat thing. Keith was wrapped in a blue blanket and his head was on Lance's stomach. Lance was talking quietly and running his fingers through Keith's hair. From the way his eye's were drooping she would say it was easing him off to sleep.

 

She crept over to another seat and sat down, nodding in recognition as Lance waved with his free hand. She then cracked her knuckles and started typing, line after line of data covering her vision.

 

They stayed in a quiet silence, once Keith dropped off. He's occasionally cough, or shift around, but would quickly settle down once Lance started running his fingers through his hair again.

 

"He really seems to like that." She remarked quietly after the fifth time that Keith seemed to be distressed.

 

"He does, yeah. He's only recently found out how much he likes it too." Lance murmured, looking at Keith with adoration shining in his blue eyes.

 

"What do you mean? Has he never had someone do that too him before?" She asked, feeling a little shocked.

 

"He was in fostering for most of his life, and he wasn't exactly a favoured child." Lance said. "He had to deal with a lot of stuff alone, and because of that he now doesn't really know how to ask for affection. It's hard for him because sometimes he doesn't know wether he can ask or not."The Cuban boy sighed and Pidge blinked.

 

"Id forgotton that... but it makes sense." She said softly. She went back to coding for a minute, the silence feeling slightly oppressing.

 

"Shit, I gotta go." Lance muttered suddenly. Pidge raised her head, watching as Lance frowned at his communicator, then at the raven haired boy sleeping fitfully on his chest.

 

"I can look after him, if you want." She finally offered, and Lance looked at her with shock in his eyes.

 

"You would? I know your trying to find your family, and Keith does sometimes moves around a lot when he sleeps, he'd hate it if he made it so he couldn't work." Lance said quietly.

 

"Yeah I'm sure, he'll stay over there and I'll stay here, but I can keep an eye on him from here." She replied with a smile. Lance smiled back, and then sat up a bit more, he gently moved Keith. The elder boy sniffed and blinked sleepily, making a quiet noise as Lance slipped out from underneath him.

 

"Lance?" He mumbled in a hoarse voice starting to sit up. Lance shushed him quietly, running his hand through Keith's hair till Keith was sleeping again. He then sighed and pressed a gentle kiss to Keith's  forehead before standing up and walking out the room briskly.

 

It was quiet for a few hours, until Keith started tossing and turning. It wasn't that bad at first, just shifting and mumbling slightly. Pidge looked up over her laptop every 10 minutes, frowning at the small noises Keith was making every few minutes. She put her laptop down and made her way over too him when he started muttering louder and tossing more. His face was troubled and Pidge didn't like it. She remembered Lance's earlier words and began to run her fingers through his surprisingly soft hair. He calmed down a bit and sighed slightly, but was still in distress, so she quickly moved and hopped onto the sofa, laying his head on her lap. Keith muttered something in Korean, and Pidge allowed herself to smile when he fully settled down again. It was about time she took a break.

 

Keith's muttering started up again a few minutes later, so she began running her fingers through his hair and humming softly, something her mum would do when she was ill. The muttering didn't stop though, and Pidge frowned, laying a small hand on the ill boy's forehead. She let out a sigh of relief when she realised he wasn't as hotbas she feared, it was just a low fever then.

 

"Pidge..?" Keith's hoarse croak of her name drew her out of her thoughts. His hazy eyes were half open and slightly fever glazed, but she was happy to see the spark of familiar fire in their depths.

 

"Hey Keith, how ya feeling?" She said quietly. Keith blinked slowly, obviously thinking about it.

 

"A bit better, I don't feel sick anymore." He muttered, before attempting to get up and look around. "Where's Lance?" He finally asked, and she frowned.

 

"I don't know, now lay down, your still sick."  To her suprise, he did so, laying his head back on her lap. She smiled and hummed again, watching whatever the thing was on TV. It was pretty intresting, and she could feel herself getting immersed in it. That was until a uncharacteristically small voice drew her out of it.

 

"Uhm... could you... maybe... run your h—hands through my hair..? I—It helps my headache and helps me sleep." Keith asked in a small voice, and, well, she couldn't say no when he asked like that. So she nodded and began doing just what she asked, humming as well.

 

Keith fell asleep almost instantly, and she wasn't far behind.

* * *

 

 

Keith woke up too somebody moving him, dragging away the warmth that surrounded him. He whined when the cold air hit him and curled closer to the head source that was near his head. He heard a faint sigh and then their was a large hand running through his hair, making him relax. He blinked sleepily when he was suddenly moved and wrapped his arms around whoever was carrying him. They were warm.

 

The chest his head was resting on moved and a distant part of Keith's brain told him that whoever was carrying him was laughing. He mumbled half formed words and buried his face as the laughter stopped and he was put down. He frowned and forced himself to wake up as his arms were removed and left on the bed before whoever had carried him walked out. He looked around hopefully, wanting their to be another human for him to curl up next to, but it was just him in the dark. A quick look around with fever-glazed eyes told him he was completely alone and he slumped as he realised what had happened. This wasn't the first time he'd been abandoned after all.

 

He buried his face in the nearest object and tried not to cry, he was better than that. The words didn't stop the tears.

 

He didn't notice the door opening.

He didn't notice the muttered words as someone entered the room.

He did notice the bed dipping and tanned arm pulling him to a strong chest. He immediately turned and buried his head, shaking like a leaf in relief. Lance hadn't left him. 

 

Lance sighed when he saw the tears and wiped them away gently, cooing softly at him when he sniffed. He relished in being held by the taller boy, turned boneless when Lance ran his long fingers down his spine. Lance chuckled when he nuzzled closer and pressed a kiss into his hair.

 

"Sleep Keith, I'm not going anywhere."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to the positive reaction's of people, I have decided that I will attempt to write a Klance au story, and a part two for the previous chapter as some people have also asked for that.
> 
> Have a good day/night!


	10. No one would notice him now..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was requested by some on Wattpad who reminded me of my love for making characters blind, deaf, mute etc. 
> 
> I do not own Voltron. If I did I don’t think it would be a child friendly show....

The battle had been brutal, with plenty of bloodshed. Voltron had emerged victorious, but at a price. Yeah, sure, they defeated the robeast, and destroyed Hagger's ship, possibly killing the witch for good.

 

But team Voltron weren't celebrating. Instead they were crowded around a pod, their faces ranged from tearful to grim.

 

Hunk was continuously wiping a steady stream of tears off his face as he watched Coran work with anxious eyes. His left hand was rubbing Pidge's back as she sobbed and hiccuped into his top. Shiro and Lance were more angry then upset, both boys having seen exactly what the bitch had done before getting thrown into space.

 

"Will he be ok?" Lance asked, staring at the too pale face that was suspended in front of him.

 

"It's hard to say... physically, he will be fine, there will just be heavy scarring, but he may never  be able to talk again..." Coran murmured. The elder man grimaced at the grizly claw marks that were wrapped around Keith's neck. He was surprised that the boy was still alive. The witch should have destroyed his windpipe and he should of died. But the only damage the pod picked up on was the fact that the paladin's voice box had been damaged almost irreparably, and he wasnt sure that the pod could fix it.

 

"How long will he be in there for Coran?" Allura asked. The Altean was standing behind the other paladins, and she had a calculating look on her face.

 

"Why?" Lance said, turning towards her to snarl the word. "So you can send him straight back out? So that you can taunt him too taking down someone that could kill him quicker than you could blink?!" Lance spat angrily. The other paladins turned towards him looking shocked.

 

"What? I never-" Allura started, a shocked look on her face.

 

"Bullshit. I heard you tell Keith to go get those documents, yet Keith said no because he knew Haggar was in there! You knew she was! Yet you still told him 'not to worry. It doesn't matter that they were probably the only way of safely beating Haggar.' That was taunting him into fighting her!" Lance snarled. "Ever since he's come back from the blade you've treatedhim differently! You act like he's your slave! Newsflash Allura, he's not. You think he wants to find out he's part of the race that were fighting? He didn't. Get the fuck over yourself Allura, your not the centre of the universe." Lance muttered, he was aware of the others gaping at him, but he really didn't care at the moment, Keith could of died, and there was no way in hell that Lance was going to forget any time soon. He wasn't going to forget Keith's choked off scream of pain either.

 

_Flashback & POV Change_

_The smoke made it hard to breathe, or maybe it was the fact that there was a ton of rubble attempting to bury him. He realised his helmet was missing and cursed quietly, they didn't have the resources to make another._

_"Shiro!"_

_"Dude where are you?!" That was the boys, Keith and Lance may fight like cats and dogs but they worked together damn well when the situation called for it. He tried to move, but he couldn't even budge an inch so he called out instead._

_"Keith! Lance! I'm over here!" It was hard to speak. He coughed after he had managed to get enough air to get their attention. After the fit subsided he tried to get up again. Only to have a hand press him down._

_"Stay still, we need to try get this off you." Keith muttered. He nodded and blinked the dust out of his eyes. He waited patiently as the boys moved around him, clearing smaller rocks so they could lift the giant piece ofdebris. It took them a couple of tries but they managed to hold it up long enough to allow Shiro to drag himself out. When they were sure it was clear they let it drop, and both ran back towards Shiro._

_Keith crouched in front of him, muttering as he took in his adopted brother's face. He swore quietly when he found the cut in his hairline._

_"Language Keith." He reminded and Keith scowled at him in response, but Shiro could see that he was happy from how vibrant his eyes were._

_"Allura, we need an extraction, Shiro won't be fighting anytime soon." Lance said from his right side. He sighed._

_"All this because a wall fell on me?" He asked quietly, getting two voices hissing exactly the same thing at him, then duel exclamations telling the other to 'shut up.'He snickered as they both stood their bickering, visor pressed against visor. His snickering gained the raven haired boy's attention and he hissed angrily, shoving Lance away from him and helping Shiro stand._

_"You two are practically an old married couple." He muttered, gunmetal staring into indigo hues. Keith huffed and flushed slightly even as he denied it. Lance appeared the other side of him, and the smaller boy's walk/dragged him too where Hunk and Yellow were waiting. He allowed his thoughts to drift, alien space dust messing with his head and making him feel slightly dizzy._

_"It's like he's high or something." He heard Lance mutter at one point as they traveled at a snails pace. Until they stopped. He was vaguely aware of an argument going on, but didn't know what. He was content to lean against the wall and pretend he was back in Japan._

_Only to open his eyes when Lance screamed and he was grabbed by a rather vicious looking Galra commander. He growled as he was forced to his knees next to Lance. Lance who was screaming at Haggar, because the witch had blasted Keith through a wall, and had threw herself at him afterwards. He shook his head to clear the funny feeling and watched with bated breath as Keith was electrocuted again and again. He struggled and cursed when he couldn't get out, instead being forced to watch as Hagger dug her claw like nails into the delicate skin of Keith's neck, before ripping it open like it was hot butter._

_The sound Keith made, that gurgled scream that was choked off by a fountain of blood dripping out of his mouth and the mess that was his neck would haunt Shiro worse than any memory of the year he spent in that god forsaken arena. Haggar, who was now watching the red paladin's blood pool underneith him, laughed._

_Shiro saw red._

_End Fladhback & POV Change_

 

It was a full two weeks later when Keith finally came out of the pod, falling right into Lance. It was nighttime, and the others were asleep, trusting Lance to help Keith with wether he was mute or not.

 

Still woozy from the pod, Keith didn't really know anything was amiss, until he stretched his neck, gasping at the pain only to realise that no sound came out. He looked at Lance, tried to say his name, but nothing came out. He started shaking, and dropped to his knees when he remembered what happened, what Haggar did.

 

The memories made everything worse, and he started to bring his hand up too the side of his neck, where the witch had scratched him but jumped when Lance caught his hand and brought it away, instead holding it between both of his own. He took a shaky breath and sobbed silently, shoulders shaking as the reality of his situation hit him. He was now mute.

 

"Shit, Keith, please don't cry... c'mere..." Lance whispered as he was pulled into a hug. There, he let the dam break, crying silently into Lance's chest. Lance held him as he whimpered, as he wailed till he cried himself out.

 

"It's going to be ok, we'll fix this. I promise." Lance's voice was thick with tears as he tried to console the boy with empty promises.

 

It wouldn't be ok, no one would notice him now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHFHODNSIQGSODG
> 
> IM SORRY THAT THIS TOOK SO LONG! COLLEGE IS KILLING MY ASS
> 
> IM SORREYYYYYY
> 
>  
> 
> side note : i've started writing the soulmate AU! I should hopefully get the first chapter out soon!


	11. Safe and Sound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a mash up of a prompt and a continuation for the 8th one shot

Keith wouldn't tell anyone what happened that night, and, more worryingly so, wouldn't leave Shiro's side. Whatever had happened had scared him, but, Shiro still insisted he wasn't scared.

Three days later everything went to shitdom. It started with Keith screaming, waking everyone up and luring the whole team to the Red Paladin's room, there they found Keith staring at a corner with wide eyes. The poor boy was shaking like a leaf and couldn't even start to say what's wrong. He shied away from everyone except Shiro. The eldest paladin then sat down on Keith's bed and pulled the Korean boy towards him, gently encouraging him too look away from whatever was there.

Shiro had quietly told everyone to leave, and they did, respecting the Black paladin's wishes, looking back towards the door as they split and headed back to their own rooms.

Keith stayed in Shiro's room after that.

He seemed to be ok for a week. That week was spent right next to Shiro, only eating and drinking if prompted, and not letting the others near him really. Once, when Keith was asleep, Shiro sat them all down and actually told them exactly what had happened.

"As you all know, Keith has drugged and ambushed on Kortilum, by three alien's called Hart's." He spoke softly and avoided looking directly at anyone. "You all know what they look like, and that they were very anti galra, which is why Allura sent us there, to help with the coalition." The older male sighed shakily and curled his hands into fists. Lance gulped at the hint of anger that was gleaming in his eyes, but didn't say anything. He had a horrible, horrible feeling that he knew exactly what had happened too Keith, he prayed he was wrong. "But, the Hart's lied. They had Galra stationed in the building where the party was, and their aim was too kidnap us at take us too Zarkon. Yet they never even managed to contact him. Two of the galran's had a change of plan and decided too keep Keith for themselves. After the Harts drugged him and chained him up, they snuck in and... they..." Lance was now shaking himself, watching and ready to beg that they hadn't done it, that the scum hadn't laid a finger on the boy.

"The two galran's raped him, that is what Shiro's trying to say." Allura said quietly from the doorway, her voice echoed before giving way to a feeling of hopelessness that had him choking on his own breath. He felt his eyes widen and he gasped, the strangled noise echoed by a quiet whimper of 'no' from Hunk.

Shiro cleared his throat and made sure to get everyone's attention. "The trauma from ... _that_ ... and the after effects of the drug have left him reliving certain things that happened to him when he was younger, and it's only going to get worse."

"What can we do to help?" Pidge asked, a determined glint in her eye.

"Just be patient with him, don't snap at him or crowd him. He'll get better when the drug wears off. The best thing you can do is too show him that he can trust you." Shiro instructed, looking at the sleeping form on the sofa next to him. He looked up again, directly at Lance. "I know I said you hadn't seen Keith scared yet, because that's the truth, but, that doesn't mean he was just scared, Keith was, and still is, downright terrified." Lance just gaped at him in shock before schooling his features into a blank look. "Go get some rest, okay? We'll be approaching Yehimir soon." Shiro said quietly. The other occupants in the room nodded, and left the room, leaving Shiro with the broken boy.

No, Keith wasn't broken, he was just cracked, and Shiro was going to fix him before he broke.

 

* * *

It had only been three days since the paladin's had found out before what had happened on Kortilum, when the younger paladins found it to be their time to help Keith. Shiro was scouting out a moon in Black, so the other paladin's were messing in the rec room when the alarm went off. 

It wasn't the intruder alarm, or the get to your lion's alarm. It was the training room alarm, that Coran had added after the galran crystal contaminated the castle.

"The alarm's gotta be for Keith." Lance muttered,  jumping to his feet and helping Hunk stand as Pidge brushed crumbs off her shorts. The three of them headed to the specified room and once they got there they found a sparking gladiator laying on the floor. Keith was curled up against the wall on the far side of the room with his hands over his ears. The three paladin's shared a worried glance and hurried over to the distressed teen.

As they got closer they could see a dark bruise forming on Keith's temple and that he was muttering to himself, probably in Korean as he rocked forwards and backwards. The paler than normal face was streaked with tears, and Pidge felt her heart break just slightly.

"You two go get Allura or Coran too turn this alarm off, it ain't helping Keith!" She said, not looking at the other boys as they ran off. She kept her eyes fixed on the broken boy in front of her as she shuffled closer slightly, stopping when Keith flinched.

"Deo isang, jebal. (1)" he muttered, barely loud enough for her to hear and she frowned softly, having no clue what he'd just said.

"Keith?" She asked quietly, fighting to keep he voice calm and level. She watched as he flinched away from her, like he was expecting to get hurt. "Keith it's me, Katie." She tried again hoping that the familiar name would coax Keith out of the protective ball he'd curled up into. It worked slightly, with Keith loosening the hold he had on each arm and looking at her through his fringe. There was a hint of distrust in his eyes that cleared up when she took her glasses off, gently setting the frames off to the side. He still refused to uncurl though, so Katie wracked her brains for a way to earn Keith's trust. The idea slammed into her a moment later. She could remember Matt telling her about it, when Keith had gotten panicked at the garrison. He'd called it Keith's lullaby, even though it was a song by a popular artist. She sat down properly keeping her eyes on Keith's as she opened her mouth.

_I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go,_

_When all those shadow's almost killed your light,_

_I remember you said don't leave me here alone,_

_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight..._

_Just close your eyes,_

_The sun is going down,_

_You'll be alright,_

_No one can hurt you now,_

_Come morning light,_

_You and I'll be safe and sound..._

 

She was cut off by a sob and Keith pulling her into a hug. He pressed his face into her hair and she wrapped her arms around his chest making soft shushing noises as he sobbed. When Keith pulled away she looked up at the tear-stained face and fought back tears when Keith managed to croak out a "thank you" around his sobs. She just sighed and buried her head into his shuddering chest.

 

They both jumped when lean arms wrapped around the both of them. She snuck a glance too the side of her and watched as Lance gently persuaded Keith to lean against him. Keith seemed to do so willingly, wrapping pale arms around the Cuban. Lance then looked at Hunk, who hugged the three of them tightly.

 

They held him till he cried himself too sleep, and unanimously agreed to never bring it up unless Keith asked about it first. They all knew that a hug fest wasn't going to magic the issue away, and that was proven an hour later when they had to go and form Voltron, only to realise Keith and Red never made out the castle. They didn't say anything, just pulled him into a hug and told him to take his time. He didn't need to push himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All translation's courtesy of google translate  
> 1) No more, please.
> 
> The first chapter of the soulmate au book I keep going on about is now published, it's called Blind! Check it out if you want!
> 
> And would you all be opposed to me sing this song again in a different oneshot with Keith and Shiro?


	12. Madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw for decapitiation and shit writing
> 
> I tried to mix a couple of prompts together, one of them being CharacterCorner’s one, but I failed abymally sorry... 
> 
> I don’t own Voltron!

"No! You don't understand! You're always the one who people talk to, people think about, you're the one with 'issues' and it pisses me off! There are no signs of you needing any medical help whatsoever! You like to whine and be all dramatic when you don't get your way but it's all fake! You want to think you have something wrong so you can justify having everyone dote on you but the cold hard truth is that there is nothing wrong. So what if you have some self doubt, we all do, so what if you got bullied, we all did! So what if you get homesick, at least we all still have a planet to go back to! You need to learn that you are lucky with what you have, a nice loving family, people who try to understand and the security that you are human, because I don't have that Lance."

Keith couldn't care less as Lances face fell and his body slumped. He was sick of Lance being able to get out ofbecause ' he didn't feel happy.' Lance was lucky he was actually feeling something, and not the all - consuming numbness that Keith seemed to have as his default feeling.

"Keith that's harsh, Lance does have issues." Shiro said, looking at him with that little crease in his brow. Keith hissed angrily.

"Does he lay staring at the ceiling all night? Does he purposefully train until he physically collapses? Does he, whenever we go to a planet, get thrown dirty looks and called names, does he get attacked by aliens because he's basically the enemy! Does he know what it like to be tied to a table and have someone promise you they're going to make you suffer because you deserve it for being Galra! Has he ever had to break out of Zarkon's war ship on his own because his team didn't need him!? Tell me! Has he had to do anything like that?!" Keith hadn't meant to start shouting or get misty-eyed. He just needed to make them understand that Lance was exploiting them all! He opened his mouth to say something, only to get hit in the face by something metallic. Shiro. Shiro had just hit him. He allowed himself to stumble back and fall, cracking his head against the floor. He didn't bother holding back the tears now.

* * *

 

Shiro stared at his hand with growing horror at what he'd just done. He'd broken his sacred promise, the one thing he should never break. He'd intentionally hurt his younger brother.

"Shit! Keith, I'm sorry I don't know what came over me!" He said, quickly moving towards where Keith was starting to sit up only to watch as Keith flinched away from him. He gulped at the fear shining in his eyes and felt his heart crack as a crystalline tear made it's way down Keith bruised cheek. Said crack grew wider when Keith whimpered and sobbed out a croaky plea to stay away from him.

The team watched helplessly as he stumbled to his feet and towards the door. He stopped at the doorway, turning and meeting Shiro's eye.

"I'm sorry I'm a burden on the team." He whispered and was out the door before Shiro could react. Silence reigned in the training room.

"Well shit."

ONE WEEK LATER

Shiro sighed as he took in the galra ship that was way to close to the castle. It was a warship, big enough to actually require all lions to bring it down. It was less than ideal, considering they were basically a paladin down. Keith hadn't left his room, and the only hay he'd known he was alive was because the red lion was pissed at them all.

"Shiro I have to set off the alarm." Allura said quietly. Shiro nodded, and set off towards Black's hanger. He waited for the other paladin's in black's cockpit, and briefly wondered if Keith would actually show up. He was suprised to hear the "let's get this over with" from him but frowned when Keith didn't say anything else, completely ignoring the others.

* * *

 

They shot at the ship for a while and decided it was worth seeing if any info was on board, so Keith and Pidge were nominated to go aboard. Pidge was slightly worried about what Keith could do but shook it off as they both entered the cruiser. Keith then waited for her while she hacked the computer, sword drawn and eyes sharp, waiting for any sign of a threat.

Pidge was 75% done when she heard the choked off scream. She quickly turned to look and screamed herself when she saw the head lying on the floor. The other paladins asked if she was ok and what was going on but she didn't answer. Horrified hazel met terrified indigo and Pidge forced herself to swallow and breathe. She took off her helmet to help and left on on the floor.

Once she had calmed herself she took a risk and hugged the trembling teen tightly.

"I won't tell if you won't, you were only doing your job. I'm not angry." She said, making sure to keep her words clear. Keith nodded slowly, subdued and she sighed.

The computer beeped at her and she quickly jammed her helmet on, taking the key that now held the data in on hand and Keith's wrist in another.

"We got the info, now heading out." She reported, getting an affirmative on her report. She sighed in relief as settled in Green's cockpit, watching red out of the corner of her eye, wondering if Keith was as ok as he was acting. He had just beheaded someone after all.

* * *

 

A few hours later Keith sent her a message on her com, asking her to come to his room. She messaged him back and then changed quickly into more suitable clothing, then leaving and turning right, looking at the door next to her. It slid open and she stepped in, jaw dropping as she took in the scraps of paper on the wall, all asking things like "why me" and "I don't want this anymore."

"I... I need to ask you a question." Keith said and she jumped, falling out of heaven and looking around for Keith. She found him huddled in the blanket on the bed and gingerly sat down.

"What's up? She asked. "Did the others have a go at you? Cuz I'll hit them if they did." She promised and grinned at the slight smile  that adorned Keith's face. The mood dropped a minute later and Pidge sat up straighter as Keith allowed the blankets to fall messily around him. She waited in silence, patiently giving Keith time to collect his thoughts.

".... I think I'm going mad... or turning into a psychopath..." He finally whispered and Pidge made a curious noise.

"Why? She asked and Keith shrugged.

"I just... don't care... about anything... at all. It's like my emotions have been sucked down a drain."

"That isn't being a psychopath. Thats.... something I don't know. But you are not a psychopath, ok? Pidge said quietly. Keith nodded hesitantly. "Whatever is wrong, we'll fix it, ok? I'm not going to let you suffer." She said quickly, pulling him into a side hug.

Keith relaxed and she smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m SORRY that THIS is REALLY shitty AND doesn’t MAKE sense.
> 
> I NEED HELP WITH IDEAS! You seem to want a part three to chapters 12 and 13 but I don’t know what to write! Can anyone send me an idea that’ll kickstart my muse?


	13. Scum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Voltron

Glowing yellow eyes regarded themselves in the mirror. Those eyes, though pupil-less were easy to read. The betrayal, pain and sadness enough to bring a lesser man to their knees. Fluffy, purple ears, similar to a cats, where plastered to his skull, almost as if they were trying to hide themselves. Light lavender skin, and pale skin that bruises easily, was blotchy.   
  
Keith hissed at himself, tail lashing as he tried to force the purple away. He hated it, and was glad every moment that he could force it away. Another deep breath, more pale skin and less looking like an abomination. If only the ears and tail would disappear too. He slumped with relief when his eyes reverted back to normal.    
  
He splashed some water onto his face and dried it with a towel before going back into his room. He clipped his belt on and was looking for his jacket when long arms encircled his waist and a face was pressed into the top of his head. He smiled, enjoying the minute of peace before Lance opened his mouth.   
  
"Babe, you eaten yet?" He asked, humming when Keith nodded. The taller boy moved, handing him his jacket and patiently waiting for Keith to pull it on. Once he had, they linked their fingers and left Keith's room. He allowed Lance to pull him to the rec room, where the others were already waiting. They entered the room quietly, taking a seat next to Shiro and wondering what the meeting was about.   
  
Once Allura was sure that everyone was present she stood up. "Paladin's, I have gathered you all to discuss the discuss the predicament we are all in."   
  
"What predicament?" Pidge asked, looking at the altean princess with wide eyes. Everyone else shared a look and Keith felt like he knew what Allura was getting at. He clenched his fists and shuffled slightly closer to Lance, who wrapped a soothing arm around him, ignoring the flickering tail and fluffy ears pressed against dark hair.   
  
"We have a galra in our midst, as you all know. Now, it cannot fly the red lion, as it would cause us chaos, nor can it stay with us, as it could be a spy." Every word was filled with venom, and directed at Keith, who hunched his shoulders in an attempt to hide himself from the princesses sharp gaze. "I believe we should all decide what to do with it, we could try and get it to tell us secrets about the empire, use its body to see if we can find a weakness to the galra or we could go with the kindest option, exterminate it. I personally think that-"   
  
"I have a better idea, we take Keith's word for it and we let him do what he wants, he would never willingly hurt anyone and I think red would be pretty pissed if you hurt his paladin." Lance easily interrupted the princess, hugging the now trembling hybrid closer to him. It was clear that Keith was terrified if what Allura was implying, and Lance hated seeing Keith take the abuse with a bitten lip and closed eyes, not fighting back against the harsh words. He didn't think he'd ever see his new ears press themselves against his head that hard, or his tail lying that limp.   
  
"It's not welcome on my ship. I want it gone." Allura said back slowly, as if she was holding herself back.   
  
"He goes, I go." Lance said steadily, locking eyes with her.   
  
"Lance, you can't! Voltron needs you!" Keith hissed, turning to look worriedly at the taller paladin.   
  
"Lance is right, if he goes then I go too." Shiro spoke up, watching Allura warily.   
  
"B—But! You're the head of Voltron! You cannot just leave!" Allura exclaimed, spluttering. She turned to Coran. "Tell them they cannot leave Coran! Tell them they they can't! They need to sit and choose a new Red Paladin while thinking about what to do with the parasite that has infected them!" The princess was borderline hysterical, eyes wild and hair falling out of its usual well made bun.    
  
"I'm sorry Princess, the paladins are right. Keith may be Galran but he has never posed a threat to any of us. You're going way of kilter." The royal advisor said apologetically. Allura stood, staring at him with wide eyes before they narrowed and she stormed out the room. A collective sigh of relief was released and the tension started to drain from Keith's shoulders. He slumped against Lance, suddenly exhausted.   
  
"Would you really give up Voltron for me?" He whispered in disbelief watching critically as five heads nodded in sync. He found no hesitation in their gazes and allowed himself to fully relax, sinking back into Lance with a yawn. Lance chuckled and checked the time, unsurprised to see how late it was.   
  
"Keith and I are going to sleep now guys. Night!" He chirped as he carefully picked up his mostly asleep boyfriend. It was a short trip to Keith's room, just enough time for Keith to fall asleep. He laid Keith down first and then laid next to him, pulling him closer and letting the raven haired boy’s head rest on his chest. He wrapped his arm around Keith’s back, keeping the slumbering boy pressed close. He pulled the covers higher over the both of them and clicked his fingers, smiling when the lights faded out. He pressed a kiss to Keith’s head and settled down to sleep, missing his face care routine one night wouldn’t kill him... right?   
  


* * *

  
  
Keith woke up to see Allura standing over him. He blinked in confusion, looking around for Lance but was confused to realise he wasn’t there.    
  
“Princess?” He greeted timidly, looking up at her. Allura’s usually expressive eyes were hard, and void of any emotion. Keith felt his tail flick slightly and flattened his ears. He didn’t like the look on her face.   
  
“About time you treat me with the respect I deserve scum.” She began, making Keith jump. “Unfortunately, the paladins have made the decision not to kill you, or let me donate your organs to someone who needs them. So I want to make one thing clear. You do not belong here, on this ship, piloting my father's lion. You are nothing. Just a useless half breed that the others took pity on. If I could have my way then you would strapped to a table or already be dead, but that cannot happen. So I’ll say this once and expect you to listen and do as I say. Remove everything that makes you Galran, and I will allow you to fly your lion again. Understood?”    
  
Body heavy with dread and half paralysed with fear, Keith lowered his gaze and nodded slightly. He knew what to do.   
  
“Excellent! I expect to see results tomorrow! Now I must make sure that Lance is still planning on helping me learn to shoot properly! Bye!” With that she abruptly left room, just as the tears began to fall. Allura was right, he was unfit for Voltron. It didn’t matter that Voltron was one of the few things that made life worth living, nope. He didn’t deserve luxuries like that. He idly wondered how he was meant to remove his galra traits. The thought hit him like a freight train. He could remove all of it. Even before Haggar’s magic had forced his physical traits to manifest, he’d still been letting the team down. He hated the new ears and tail he had, they made his entire existence miserable. Why not end all of it?   
  
He stood up on shakily and snagged his mom’s knife off the dresser before falling and sliding down the wall. He looked at the knife in his hands and considered what he was going to do.    
  
He’d come close to self harm before, but has always wimped out, to scared to think about mutating himself like that. But now.... he needed to, for the universe, for Voltron, for Lance. He took a shaky breath and pressed the knife to his neck as the door opened automatically.   


* * *

  
Shiro was looking for Keith, he’d seen Lance training with a very smug Allura, which sent him into red alert immediately. He quickly checked the common places like the rec room, kitchen and Red’s hanger but he wasn’t in any of those rooms so Shiro decided to try his room next.    
  
He was relieved to find that the door wasn’t locked and he could enter straight away, but that relief was was washed away at the tide of horror he was swept into when he saw his brother holding a blade to his own throat.    
  
Keith’s eyes was squeezed shut, and his pale skin was blotchy, showing that he was struggling to maintain the glamour that the Yelik mage had cast on him. Tear marks marred the skin of his cheeks and his ears were pressed flat to his skull, his tail lying limply against his thigh.   
  
“Keith?” He asked quietly, crouching in front of the younger boy. Glowing golden eyes blinked open and Keith whimpered audibly. “Keith, please, put the knife down. You can come sit with me and we can talk, yeah? Like we used to before?” He whispered, keeping his voice low and soothing. Keith didn’t budge, and instead his shaking hand moved closer to his neck and Shiro panicked as a red line slowly appeared on the fragile skin ofhis neck. Shiro acted without thinking then, gently bringing Keith’s shaking hand away from his neck and prying the knife from his hands, he then pulled the sobbing boy to his chest.   
  
“She wants me gone.” Keith sobbed. “She wants me to die... S—Say’s I’m not fit to h—help with V—Voltron...”   
  
“Oh Keith..... don’t listen to her, she’s just being horrible because she’s scared, not of you, but off the Galra themselves. She sees them instead of you and that instantly puts her walls up. Yeah, we’re all a bit freaked by it but I can’t imagine how you must be feeling. Allura may be worried and scared but she needs to be more empathetic towards you and think about how you feel, ok? None of this is your fault and you don’t have to leave anything. We can go back to that Yelik mage, Demira? She can glamour your ears and tail until you get used to them, ok?” Shiro soothed, running a hand up and down Keith’s back gently. He felt Keith nod against his shoulder, still crying and sighed. He was about to reach for his communicator when the person he wanted to talk to walked in.   


* * *

  
“Keith!”  Lance’s startled cry had the boy jumping, then pulling away from Shiro and burying his face in his boyfriends neck. Lance looked startled, almost hesitant as he wrapped his arms around Keith. Shiro stood up and brushed some dirt off of his trousers.   
  
“I need a word with Allura, are you ok to calm him down?” He asked and Lance nodded automatically. He watched Shiro leave the ben’t to doing what Shiro had been doing before, rubbing a hand up and down Keith’s spine and whispering quietly to him, rebuking him when ever he said something about him being useless. Even as he soothed and attempted to start to pick up the pieces that were left from Allura’s attack, he hoped to high hell that Shiro would make sure Allura knew exactly what she had done wrong, and that Shiro was going to make sure she paid.   
  
But for now he just sat rocking in the floor, soothing the broken boy in his arms.


	14. Sickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS PART OF MY OTHER STORY, STARS ALIGNED - IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE THIS THEN LOOK IT UP!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Voltron

When Keith woke up he was comfortable, warm. He blinked sleepily and looked around, realising that Shiro was the reason. His adopted brother was wrapped around him, and apparently staring at him.

"You awake now?" The elder man asked, and Keith nodded in confusion. "Good, Hunk brought you some soup."

"He did? Why?" Keith asked as he struggled to sit up, why was it so hard?

"He thought you might be hungry when you woke up."

"Huh." He was ravenous actually. Keith allowed Shiro to help him sit up and pass him the bowl and spoon.

"How long was I asleep for? He asked between sips, narrowing his eyes when Shiro froze and sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Three days."

Keith promptly spat his soup everywhere, turning and looking at Shiro with wide eyes.

"What?" He asked, shocked.

"Listen, you got pretty ill. Everyone was worried about you, and your fever broke about three hours ago. Coran wants to do a couple of tests later to see why you got so ill." Shiro explained. Now Keith actually thought about it, he realised he was shaking in exhaustion, which was weird considering how long he'd slept for. Not only that, his head was throbbing and he was still hungry.

"What was wrong with me?" He asked quietly, looking into the cyan mush he'd been eating a minute ago.

"Not much at first, you kept coughing and had a slight fever, but you wouldn't wake up when we tried to give you something to drink. Coran ran tests, but couldn't see anything wrong. He put you on an IV line thing and said he'd check on you during the night. He woke us up early hours next morning asking us to come look at something. You hadn't woken up, but had gotten worse, and Coran had noticed strange markings on your back. He said he'd monitor you, and alerted us if you got worse, which, you did. The marks kept spreading and your fever kept climbing. The second and last night we took shifts to keep checking on you. We were all worried." Shiro said. Oh, well shit. Keith took a deep breath, and hissed when his back and side flared lit up in pain, his head swam and he fell backwards. He was caught by two arms, one flesh and one metal. He tried to say something, get his vocal chords to work but the pain got worse, and the only noise he could make was a strangled cry of pain. He was dimly aware of Shiro calling his name but he couldn't say anything, couldn't do anything as his world went black.

* * *

 

Coran blinked when his communicator sparked to life, signalling that one of the paladin's were hailing him. He opened the message, blinking as Shiro's face sprang into view.

"Coran, I need you in Keith's room now, it's an emergency." He said, hanging up afterwards. Coran blinked at the small screen in shock before springing into action, tucking the communicator into his belt and running full speed to Keith's room,

He could hear the cries before he reached the door, and opening said door made them louder. Once inside he looked at the situation.

Keith was thrashing, and crying out repeatedly in pain. It was clear that the damn fever was back from how the red paladin was sweating yet shaking violently. Shiro was holding his shoulders down, and trying to get his attention, but it wasn't working. Coran darted forward, bringing the thin sheet down to Keith's waist and cursed when he saw that the black marks had started to spread again, and he quickly realised that every time they pulsed Keith would scream louder. He looked helplessly at Shiro, not knowing what to do, and wincing every time Keith screamed.

"What's going on!" Lance said, rushing into the room with the others, stopping with a gasp as he took the in the scene before him.

"I—I don't know!" Coran replied. Lance came forward, frowning as he thought.

"Could we put him in a pod or something?" The blue paladin asked and Coran shook his head.

"We've already tried that, it didn't work." He said, looking down. He brightened up again after a minute though, a new idea in his head. "The Nirrid berry and Jarkra water mixture helped though, and that is a powerful antitoxin! Maybe he's been poisoned!"

"But by what?" Pidge asked, moving as Allura ran to go prep the medbay for Keith, who was now muttering incoherently. Shiro had already picked him up and was carrying him, wincing at how warm the boy's skin was.

"Well there are nasty nippers in that lake he fell in, and, if one bit him it could be the venom from that. Worst case scenario is that a Ursilo is what attacked him." Coran said, now walking briskly to the infirmary.

"Why?" Hunk asked, and he sighed.

"Ursilo's are horrible fish that burrow into their victim's skin. They rip their way through skin and muscle, so they can lay eggs in the victim's bone marrow, stomach lining or, if they're really unlucky, a victim's daraking!"

"Uhhh.... Human's don't have a daraking..." Lance muttered quietly.

"Oh... Anyway, good news is that Keith probably doesn't have an Ursilo laying eggs in him, bad news is that I don't know what's wrong with him." Coran said, quickly moving into the infirmary, where Allura and Shiro had already set the IV line up and attached it to Keith. Keith was laying on a medical bed with his head on Shiro's lap and was finally in some semblance of peace.

The thin blanket was bunched around his waist, showing how much the black marks had spread. Once a small cluster, they were now long tendrils extending across his skin. The pale skin surrounding the tendrils was pale and inflamed. The black tendrils had wrapped around his waist and had started to move up his side.

"Princess, can you help me move him? I would like to look at his back." Coran requested, getting a muted nod from Allura. She, with Shiro's help, managed to get Keith to lay on his stomach, giving Coran access to his back. He froze when he saw the hard substance where the tendrils had originated from, wincing at the fact that Keith's skin seemed fused to it. He gently pressed his hand against the skin near it and Keith flinched, almost trying to get away from him. It took Shiro whispering soothing words to get him to calm down. Coran frowned and grabbed a clean syringe from the table near to him then quickly drew some blood so he could then test it later. For now, he helped the others turn Keith back over and lifted the blanket up higher, settling it around Keith's shoulders.

He then turned away from the sick boy and cracked his fingers. Time to see if Keith's blood could help figure out what was going on.


	15. Antidote

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Voltron or the song
> 
> Tw for blood
> 
> The song is called Antidote by Faith Marie  
> Here’s a link to it : https://youtu.be/-kv10eAxJiM

Finding refuge in my own lies

"How are you?"

"I'm doing alright"

(Lies, it was always a lie that he told. If only they knew about the late nights and early mornings, the scars, the cuts, the screams. But the did know, they would tie him down and watch him scream, laughing as he begged to be let out. But he deserved it, right? It's all his own fault. He should of gone back. Should of tried to help.)

 

Just let me be just let me be

Let me be, okay

(He hated it, the secret glances behind his back, the hissed words designed to hurt. He just wanted to actually smile for once. Not the fake one that he gave them. The worst thing was theat they knew. They all knew how fake he was, but that's fine, they just gave him fake honeyed words to make the pain that more jagged when they finally decided to stop playing.)

 

No one knows what goes on up inside my head

There's a new kind of poison and it's starting to spread

(He tried to tell them about the shadow, the voices. They all just laughed and told him to go away. He didn't deserve their company they told him. He did as he was told and tried not to scream when it attacked him, jamming knife after knife in between his shoulder blades. It was worse when they watched. The laughter as he screamed. Why was he so weak?)

 

They don't think I need help

But I'm scaring myself

I just want to be okay

(Waking up was getting harder, what was the point when he has unwanted. They never failed to remind him that he was a mistake, an abomination. He tried to tell someone but they just laughed and told him to go away. Told him he wasn't worth their time. That shadow just got bigger and bigger)

 

All the voices in my head are coming to life

They're getting louder and I'm, I'm terrified

How do you run from your own mind?

Is this what I've become?

Take it back what have I done?

(He starts forgetting what he's doing, mishearing others, they scream at him and hit him. He tries to tell they why but they don't believe him, the shadow's whispered words grow louder with each punch, each kick. He wants to scream, beg for it to stop but a sick part of him thinks he deserves this, it's their revenge for him leaving Shiro behind.

 

I didn't think the antidote was in my hands

I can change my plans I can change my plans

I tried to find my reflection on the glass

But all I ever saw were the things I lacked

All the smudges on the mirror made me go insane

All I ever thought I was

Was a mistake

 

(He knew what he had to do, it was right in his hands. Hand's that shook badly and made him spill the precious liquid, but every time he lifted his hands to drink he'd see Shiro, and the older man would be so disappointed in him. The look of disappointment hurts more than everything else. Instead he goes back to the mirror, always back to the mirror where the shadow stands before him, telling him what he really was; monster, fake, stupid, worthless. The list went on and the words eventually imprinted themselves onto his body, a forceful reminder of his lower status.)

 

Now he hangs in front of a mirror, glazed, broken and dull eyes staring sightlessly ahead. Blood runs in streams from cuts on his wrists, ribs, hips, anywhere there's skin there's blood. The only unmarred place is his face, eyes wide in a mock recreation of childish innocence, dried tear tracks the only thing on the smooth skin.

 

(Shiro can only stand with his mouth agape, taking in just exactly what the BoM have done to his brother.

 

A look around the room reveals the container with the used syringes, the table with bloodied restraints, the blood on the floor, growing steadily from the origin underneath the broken boy. A flickering screen sits in the corner, when it's on, the BoM scientist explains what the new drug does to it's victims.

 

(Lance can't watch them, he's crying too much, hearing his boyfriend beg for the pain to stop makes everything worse, but the pitiful whimpers after the drug leaves his system is what breaks him. Keith should never have to sound like that.)

 

Another screen show's what the hallucinogen made him see, next to it a stack of detailed documents detailing what they did to 'the subject', each one progressively worse.

 

(Pidge can only read one before she breaks down, wailing into Matt's shoulder and cursing herself for not cracking the code sooner, not finding there paladin sooner, maybe then he would be alive.)

 

It's Matt who cut's the ties holding Keith to the ceiling, laying him on the floor. Blood pools under him immediately, but Lance just shuffles closer, flinching at how skinny Keith is, but shaking it off and laying his head on his lap and tenderly running his fingers through his hair as he apologises in broken words. Pidge gathers the documents together, promising herself that she'll burn them when they get back, ensure that no one gain's anything from them. Shiro goes on a rampage, screaming in japanese and breaking things while he cries. The mirror get's smashed to peices, the bloody wall's dented and the tables destroyed. When he's done he falls to his knees and screams. Matt takes responsibility, biting his lip against his own sobs as he closes indigo eyes, eyes that would never open again.

 

With Keith, they were strong, united, an unstoppable force, now there fire has gone, been extinguished, and there's nothing left to save.

 

Keith wasn't coming back this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well then. 
> 
> Incase anyone get's confused. This is an AU where Keith disappears on a mission for the BoM. He's kidnapped by scientists and experimented on with a drug that makes people see their worse fear. He's there for months, slowly going insane before Voltron find him. The scientists panic and kill Keith, leaving him and the documents fir Voltron to find.


	16. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I have used a small part of this in an earlier oneshot, but someone on Wattpad gave me an idea, I edited it and then I ran with it and now I have fell in love with it.
> 
> Tw for blood

"Well maybe you don't belong here at all! After all, a fucked up orphan with a sob story past that is so broken that he thinks men look better than women doesn't deserve the regal position King Alfor once had! Much less a half breed mutt who can barely take care of himself! Voltron would be much better off without you!"   
  
As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted them, wanting nothing more then to snatch them out of the air. But the damage was done, indigo eyes widening with hurt and innocence before they clenched shut against the wave of tears. Keith turned on his heel and fled the training deck, leaving the four others staring in shock.   
  
"What the actual fuck dude! Why woukd you say that too him! He didn't deserve that that! All he fucking wants is you to tell him 'good job' for once in his life!" Pidge hissed, actually looking ready to gut him. Hunk stood behind her, a solemn look on his usual vibrant, smily face. Lance looked angry, a scowl on his face.   
  
"I gotta say, that was low, coming from you. Telling him that shit confirms all of his fears and insecurities! Yeah Keith's been off his game today but have you forgotten that yesterday he was poisoned? Left bleeding out on a ship set to explode? It's enough to shake anybodies confidence, and you've just been bringing him down more and more. The reaction to him being galran was bad enough! You and Allura both demeaning him and his needs! That and you think you have the audacity to tell him who he can fall in love with?! You're the one who's fucked up, Shiro. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check on my boyfriend." Lance was pissed, it was obvious too see and his body language screamed 'don't talk to me'. The blue paladin strode out the room. Hunk didn't say anything, just walked out after Lance without a glance, leaving the youngest and oldest paladin's in the room.    
  
"He really cares about you, it's a shame he can't see just how little you care about him." She whispered, looking back from the doorway. She left after that, and Shiro sighed raggedly. Why couldn't they see the monster behind the mask Keith constantly wore?

* * *

  
Thing got worse after that day. Keith became more secluded, skipping meals and sleeping less in favour of training more, trying to be better. No matter what Lance did he couldn't convince the elder to sit and talk too him.    
  
Keith was pulling away from everyone, and every interaction felt like he was gearing up to say goodbye.

* * *

  
When Keith walked into the common room that morning, holding various things, Pidge knew something was wrong. The pale boy looked so tired, and skinny, like a slight breeze would knock him over. There was a new, fragile look to him that made her heart constrict painfully when she thought of the implications of what he might be trying to do.   
  
The first object went to Hunk. He looked slightly confused till Keith explained it was a timer for when he was baking so he wouldn't loose track of time continuously. Hunk smiled brightly enthusiastically thanking Keith even as he pulled him into a gentle hug, as if the yellow paladin was scared to hurt him.   
  
The next gift went to Shiro, and it made everybody's breath catch in their throat. It was a stone with intricate carvings on it, symbols that looked like Japanese, but she wasn't sure. Gray eyes seemed to soften for the first time in two months and Shiro put a hand on the red paladin's shoulder, quietly thanking him. The small, breakable smile on Keith's face had her trembling.   
  
The third gift wen't to Allura, who looked unsure till she realised exactly what the device was. She joyfully thanked him for the English - to - Altean translator and Keith quietly told her she could use it when the team had movie nughts, so she would know exactly what was being said by the actors.    
  
Coran got the next gift, a bag which Coran opened and peeked inside* only to gasp and try to give it back to Keith. The boy refused to take it back, shaking his head and insisting that Coran take it.    
  
She then got her gift, a transmitter that matched Matt's private frequency so she could talk to her brother whenever she needed too. She had hugged the korean boy tightly and thanked him, ignoring the knawing feeling that something was very, very wrong with Keith.   
  
The last gift was Lance's and probably the the gift with the most thought put into it. Keith had shyly walked up to Lance, wrapping his arms around his boyfriends neck. Lance's hands had automatically fell too Keith's hips and Lance looked confused, muttering something too quiet for the green paladin too hear. Keith whispered something back before closing his eyes and pressing his lips against Lance's which was obviously a very shy first kiss.    
  
Keith was quick to pull away, his face as red as his lion while Lance's face started to resemble a tomato. It was actually quite cute and Pidge couldn't keep the grin off her face. Keith whispered something else** that had the smile on Lance's face faltering as he took a step back, watching almost helplessly as Keith turned and ran out the room.   
  
It was silent for a almost a minute, everyone trading looks of confusion. Hunk looked like he was going to say something but clicked his jaw shut when a red flashing light started up.   
  
"Red's moving about in his hanger!!" Coran reported, looking at the screen in front of him   
  
"That's got to be something to do with Keith!" Hunk said. The four other paladins looked at each over in worry before racing towards the hanger.   
  
Shiro got there first, stopping when he realised Red had put her shield up, not letting them in. He ignored the various cries of dismay from the others and leant against the shield as he realised the sentient lion was trying to protect her paladin.   
  
"Please Red, let us in, tell us what's wrong with my brother." He murmured then staggered back as Red's voice filled his head.   
  
"You dare to call yourself my paladin's brother! After you abandoned him!" The fury in the sentient lion's voice shook him too his core. He stumbled, lights flashing before his eyes so he closed them, vaguely aware of the others crying out too. "You dare use that term after belittle and hurt him! After you break my cub's courage and smash his soul! You have no right to be here." Red growled angrily and seemed to be getting ready to berate them more but her anger suddenly evaporated and the mechanical being threw her head back, roaring at the high ceiling in what Shiro could only describe as grief.    
  
Then Red dropped his shield and opened his mouth, allowing them access. They all rushed in, stopping in the cockpit with a cry of horror.   
  
The red paladin's bayard had been driven through Keith's chest. Blood was staining the seat and dripping in streams from Keith's mouth. For the first time in two months, Keith wasn't wearing his jacket, so everyone could see the neat, horizontal cuts that left trails of blood down his arms, eventually dripping off his fingertips into the slowly growing pool below them.     
  
There was a note left on the cockpit and Allura bit her lip, reaching over Keith to get the note.   
  
"Someone help Keith now, we'll look at the note when he's in the cryopod." She said, hiding the worry for the boy. A swift nod had Coran easily lifting Keith and running past, leaving for paladin's and a bloodstained lion.    
  


* * *

  
  
The walk to the infirmary was slow, and it gave enough time fir Coran to remove the blade and put Keith in a pod. Lance ignored the others, instead choosing to head straight to Allura, who looked shaken.   
  
"What did the note say?" He asked quietly, and Allura didn't verbally respond, just gave him the note. He took a deep breath and opened it, feeling his hands start to shake as he took in the 'I deserve this, it's the one thing I can do to improve Voltron.'    
Allura quietly took the note away, and Coran led him over to the pod which held Keith. There, Coran explained that Keith had lost an alarming amout of weight and blood, but he would survive. Lance just nodded silently, taking in the dark eye bags and the slowly healing cuts on Keith's arms.   
  
It was going to be a hell of a ride trying to help Keith now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * - Keith basically got Coran a bunch of books and a translator like Allura so he can read them
> 
> ** - Keith said goodbye to Lance after they kissed, as he wanted to be able to stay close to Lance before he tried to kill himself


	17. I wasn't planning on it, love.

Lance's ears were ringing when he woke up. He shook his head and sat up, trying to remember what had happened. They'd been on a mission, checking out what looked to be an abandoned outpost, when there had been a sudden explosion. That's the last thing he remembered. Looking around revealed the rubble of the wall opposite him and a hint of green, Pidge.

  
"H--Hey, guys? Is everyone alright?" He croaked sighing when he saw the green helmet move, Pidge lifting her head and looking at him as she confirmed that she was alright. He crawled towards her, sighing again as Hunk reported in, but growing worried when neither Shiro or Keith reported in.

  
"Shiro..? Keith..?" He asked after a minute.  
  
"I'm fine, but Keith needs medical attention immediately." Shiro reported and Lance shared a worried look with Pidge.    
  
"What happened? Where are you two?" He asked, nodding at Pidge and silently telling her to find Hunk. He got a nod in reply from Pidge and watched as she scrambled out the room.  
  
"It isn't good. I was dazed from the blast, but Keith managed to shake it off. He fought off a Galra  commander but this commander was... different? He beat Keith easily, and drove his point across by... well... it'd be better if you saw for yourself, I need to try to keep him still." Shiro said, sounding distracted. Lance tried to ignore the quiet cry from Keith halfway though the sentence.  
  
"I'm on my way." He said worriedly, shakily standing up. It took him a few minutes to find them. When he did he gagged.  
It wasn't clear as to what had happened at first. All he saw was Keith with his chest armour off and his bayard stabbed into the ground next to him. The raven haired boy had his head on Shiro's lap, and, to Lance's utter surprise, had tear marks on his cheeks. Then he saw the blood and registered that Keith's bayard wasn't just next to him, it had impaled him.  
"Shit." He whispered harshly, running over and falling too his knees beside Keith's head. He normally bright indigo eyes had dulled to a eerie grey, and he seemed to have trouble taking a deep breath. Keith was trembling, blood dripping down his jaw as he whimpered.  
  
"Lance. I need you to take my place while I see how bad the damage actually is." Shiro said, jerking his attention back to the oldest paladin. He then nodded, and scooted his legs under the injured boy's head. Keith coughed weakly, and screwed his eyes shut in pain. Lance gently moved his hair out off his eyes, before watching as Shiro poked around the jagged wound, making the boy flinch and whine.  
  
"Shit." Shiro muttered after a minute, gaining Lance's attention from where he had been trying to get Keith to open his eyes, to say something.  
  
"What?" He asked worriedly, face pale in the low lighting.  
  
"From what I can tell, his bayard's gone through his stomach, if we take it out, he'll bleed out before he get him to the lions." He muttered.  
  
"So either we sit here and wait for him to die, or we take it out and watch him die faster." Lance frowned, not liking either option. He was about to ask Shiro what to do when Pidge and Hunk ran in, both skidding to a stop at the bloodied boy. Hunk abruptly threw up, the weak stomached male unable to handle the blood while Katie blanched at the sight.  
  
"What happened?!" The youngest paladin asked in a panicked tone, hurrying over too the others. Lance shut his eyes as Shiro explained, instead trying to think of how to get Keith out alive. The idea hit him out of no where and made him smile grimly.  
  
"Shiro, what if you cauterised the wound?"  
He asked softly, not looking up from where Keith was whining quietly, his head now buried in Lance's abdomen.  
  
"That... could work. It'd stop the bleeding and allow us too move him." Shiro agreed, and Pidge nodded. "Right, Lance, You'll need to hold his shoulders down.  Hunk keep his legs still. Pidge, you'll need to monitor his vitals." Shiro instructed. All three nodded, so Shiro closed his eyes and powered his galran hand up. Then with an apology on his lips, he got to work.  
  
The halls echoed with Keith's screaming.  
  
___________________  
  
After, when the bloody bayard was laying too the side and the smell of burning flesh had them all gagging did Shiro heave a sigh of relief. He watched as Lance quietly moved Keith, shifting him into a easier position so he could pick the unconscious boy up.  
  
"We need to get back to the lions now." He ordered, and they all stood up stiffly. They all moved as one, the three of them forming a protective triangle around Lance, who carried Keith easily. They reached the lions without anymore issues, and they all quickly got into the cockpits, with Lance gently setting Keith down on the floor of Blue while Black carried Red's limp body. The sentient lion hadn't responded when the others had ran past him. All the lions took off as one,  quickly flying back to the castle where Allura and Coran were waiting.  
  
_________________  
  
_He remembered the blast._  
 _He remembered the commander._  
 _He remembered being disarmed._  
 _He remembered his own blade cutting through the soft skin of his belly._  
 _He remembered the horrible burning sensation._  
 _He remembered the soft voice telling him he’d be ok._  
 _Then there was nothing._  
  
_______________  
  
Keith fell out the pod. There was no drop to his feet, just falling forward. Luckily a solid chest and a lean pair of arms caught him, helping him stay upright as he caught his bearings. He blearily opened his eyes and smiled when they locked with Lance’s.  
  
“Hey.” He mumbled quietly, and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face when Lance greeted him in kind, and helped him too his feet.  
  
“How you feeling?” Lance asked.  
  
“Better.” He quietly replied, still holding onto Lance’s shoulders loosely. Keith was physically unable to keep the smirk off his face when Lance pulled him into a tight hug.  
  
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again.” Lance whispered into his hair, and Keith nodded obediently.  
  
“I’m not planning on it, love.”


	18. Quintessesnce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIVE BITCHES
> 
> I AM SO SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SO LONG COLLEGE IS TRYING TO MURDER ME THROUGH WORK BUUUT…
> 
> I HOPE YOU ENJOY

Lance stretched, yawning as he pushed his arms above his head. He hummed a nameless tune as he danced down the corridor. He danced past Pidge, who looked almost as grumpy as Keith. He danced past Hunk, who was mid yawn. He danced past Shiro, who was already awake in his paladin armour. He danced past Keith's room, which was as empty as ever.

Lance reached the kitchen and, once again, felt blessed about his height. He could reach the plates, cups and the secret space cookie stash Hunk had hidden from Keith and Pidge. The gremlin and ninja were deadly by themselves but they had recently learnt to team up to get what they want, namly cookies in the middle of the night.

He used said height to reach the very back of the cupboard, where the cookies were and was about to grab them when he heard a bang and a shout which made him jump and stumble backwards into the counter. He shook his head to regain his bearings and then realised the bang came from Keith’s room. What the heck? No one was in there!

He ran down the hallway back to Keith’s room and frowned when he realised the door was closed. He opened it hesitantly, and blinked at the empty room. Had the sound come from Pidge’s room? He was about to let the door close when he noticed the bathroom light was on.  Who could be in Keith’s room?

Lance blinked when he realised it was Keith, in his own room. Why the fuckwould Keith not be in his room? And why was he so jumpy? He turned to leave when he heard it, the quiet, childlike noise of fear. “Keith?” he asked, venturing further inside and biting his lip when he got a sob in response. Keith had never sounded like that before. Not even when he’d had a building fall on him that one time. Then again, he’d been unconscious for the entire duration of the extraction.

Lance knocked hesitantly on the door and was surprised when it opened, revealing the pale teen. Keith looked a mess, with dark bags under his eyes, his hair sticking to his skin. He was shaking enough for Lance to visibly see and his entire expression screamed vulnerable. For once, Lance didn’t hesitate to pull him into a hug. Keith fell against him burying his face into his shoulder and wrapping his arms around Lance. He didn’t say anything when Keith started crying, sobbing quietly. He just held him tighter.

* * *

 

It took half an hour for Keith to stop crying, pulling away from Lance and wiping his eyes on his sleeve. Lance led him over too his bed and sat down with him.

“What was that about?” He asked quietly and Keith tensed slightly and sighed, then his shoulders slumped and he finally looked up.

“I had a nightmare.” He whispered hoarsely and Lance nodded encouragingly, urging him to continue. “... We were all fighting a robeast, and Red got shot down. I was calling for help and you all ignored me… A--After you beat that thing you all one by one told me that you didn't need me. That I was useless. Then you left me.” Lance wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer.

“We wouldn’t ever leave you. We’re a team, a family. Right?” He asked and Keith nodded, looking uncertain.

“But-” He began and Lance quietly cut him off.

“No but’s. You’re a paladin of Voltron and, more importantly, You’re family. That makes you important, and someone worth fighting for. I don’t care what others back on Earth say, as far as I’m concerned you’re my brother. Keith looked at him, indigo eyes shining with unshed tears. He then smiled. It was small, breakable, but genuine and Lance found himself smiling back. He then fell back as Keith threw himself at him, face yet again buried in his shoulder as he cried. This time Lance hoped they were tears of happiness, not fear and sorrow.

* * *

 

A week or so later they were in a massive fight. The warship had a shield that neither Voltron or the castle couldn’t penetrate it. That coupled with the amount of drones firing at them and Haggar’s black lighting targeting the lions was proving to be a hard match. They’d tried forming Voltron but Haggar’s magic had forced them apart. Now, Haggar seemed to be targeting Red, leaving the others scrambling to keep Red safe. That was until one hit connected. Keith didn’t remember trying to dodge or falling after the hit. The only thing he could remember was screaming as fire burned in his mind until he passed out.

* * *

 

Lance could only scream Keith’s name, unable to move Blue fast enough to reach Red and stop her getting hit.  Keith had screamed then, and the sound chilled him to the bone. Lane had never heard anyone scream like that, but what was worse was that Keith’s voice cracked and Red’s lights had flashed. The mechanical lion had roared and Lance paled as Blue’s worry echoed through the bond they shared. Red then fell silent, floating aimlessly with no lights and no response from the Red Paladin.

It was Black who retrieved Red and brought the motionless lion back to her hanger. Lance, Hunk and Pidge were already waiting anxiously, hoping the Red Paladin would be okay and walk out. Pidge started sobbing when Shiro carried Keith out. He walked straight past the three younger paladins and straight to the infirmary when Coran was waiting. Hunk gestured for Lance to follow as he hugged Pidge tightly, the small girl sobbing almost hysterically.

When Lance arrived, his eyes widened at what he saw. Keith wasn’t in a pod, but was instead laying on a normal bed with Shiro sitting next to him, with Coran and Allura talking worriedly in the corner, sometimes glancing back at Keith with worry shining in their gaze. He quietly walked over to Keith and Shiro, sinking into the chair next to Shiro and sighing.

“They don’t know what’s wrong with him. There is nothing wrong physically, and he just looks like he’s sleeping, but he won’t wake up.” Shiro explained in a hushed voice, steel grey eyes never leaving Keith’s face. Lance frowned, unsure of what to say or do. What could he do except wait in this situation?

* * *

 

Keith woke up five days later. Weak, but alive, and Lance had never felt relief like this. When he had first noticed he hugged him tightly, burying his face in his hair and shaking. Keith had hugged him back uncertainty and seemed so confused, indigo eyes wide and his whole expression was open, vulnerable.

Keith got a hug from everyone, and after that Coran had told him that he still needed to  rest, as his quintessence level had become almost fatally low. He explained that they didn’t know why, or how that had happened, but Keith needed to rest and allow his body to recover the quintessence it lost with help from Red. Keith had took it surprisingly well, and after eating a small amount of food he slept again. Shiro had been worried till Coran explained that Keith needed sleep to be able to replenish quintessence faster. It hadn’t stopped Shiro sitting in the chair next to him.

Later Allura had sat down with all of them and had explained that Hagger had found a way to distort and control quintessence levels in everything, including the lions. When her magic struck Red she used the connection Red and Keith shared to drain Keith’s quintessence levels. She quietly said how Red has been the only reason Keith hadn’t died, using her own quintessence to keep him alive until his were at a level that could sustain him safely. She stressed that they all had to be careful from now on, as there was no telling what Haggar could do with quintessence. The remaining paladins had all glanced at Keith, who was sound asleep and had nodded collectively. They wouldn’t let that witch touch Keith, or any of there family, with magic again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m thinking of the next oneshot being what happens if someone’s quintessence levels get too low and there lion is not around to help, would anyone want to read that?


	19. Quintessance pt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol I'm sorry this took so long.
> 
> College is killing me :)

Lance groaned and sat up, blinking at the bright pink leaves ahead of him. The last thing he remembered was Pidge screaming at him to answer her…. which she still was doing.

“Lance I swear to fucking god if you don’t answer me now I’m going to find you and shove Keith’s sword-“

“Pidge, calm down, I’m fine.” He cut her off and he heard the sighs from the other end of the comms.

“Thank fucking fuck. Now what happened?! Where are you?! Can you see Keith at all, he’s not answering either.” Pidge asked and Lance frowned.

“First things first, Language. As far as I can remember both Red and Blue were hit by that strange cannon, I blacked out from the hit so I dunno what happened afterwards. I think I’m on Kubos, the massive planet with the inverted colours, and finally I can’t see Keith anywhere, I’m now getting ready to go out and look.” As he spoke the blue paladin slowly sat up and did a mental dance when he realised nothing was broken or fractures. He’d have some bruises but that was it.

“Lance, if it is Kubos you are on you must be careful. The air is toxic to humans, remember?” Allura asked and Lance replied with an affirmative hum.

“I remember princess, keep your helmet on you at all times, unless Keith’s helmet is broken, then give it to him as he can’t survive as long as a human can due to his Galran DNA.” Lance reported back, smirking when Allura remarked that she was impressed that he knew this and he had pleasantly surprised her. But he then shook his head and left Blue. He wasn’t too worried about the giant mechanical lion as he could tell that the bond was still active and Blue’s mind would occasionally brush against his, helping to bring his creeping worry about Keith to a minimum.

Once outside the Lion he saw Red immediately and blanched. The red lion of Voltron was dented and damaged. Lance just hoped Keith was alright. If he wasn’t then… Lance didn’t want to think about it. During there forced time together in space they had gone from rivals to friends.

It took him a few minutes of scrambling around to get to Red’s head and listening to the others call Keith’s name. Lance finally reached the sentient lions and realised Reds jaw was open enough for Lance to crawl inside. He quickly made his way to Reds cockpit and was relieved to see that Keith didn't seem too hurt. Sure he’d been thrown out of the pilots seat and was unconscious but his helmet looked intact and Lance couldn’t see or smell any blood.

“Guys I can see Keith, he’s unconscious but I’ll try to wake him up.” Lance reported and ignored Pidge muttering under her breath. He cautiously approached the unconscious teenager and, when he was close enough, checked the raven haired boy’s pulse. A wave of relief swept over him and the slow and steady beat against his fingertips. Lance rocked back on his heels and reported to the others that Keith was just unconscious. The others sighed in relief and Lance gently shook the black haired boy, hoping he’d wake up but not thinking the action would actually be enough to rouse him. Surprisingly, Keith stirred and lifted his head. He looked around in a moment of dazed confusion before he focused on Lance.

“Lance...?” He muttered, and tried to sit up.

“Yeah, it’s me, just take it easy Samurai. You hit your head pretty bad.” Lance answered and helped the red paladin sit up. Keith looked around again, able to see more now he was sitting up before he focused on Lance again, who was still crouching next to him.

“What happened? Where’re the others? Are they okay?” He asked and Lance frowned.

“You don’t remember the massive battle? Or the Ion cannon that hit both of us and put the lions out of commission?” Lance answered.

“Oh, so that’s what happened. Thanks for telling me. Now where are we and where is everyone else.” Keith said dryly, almost looking bored.

“Can you not hear them through the mic in your helmet?” Keith shook his head and Lance opened his mouth to tell him he’s deaf, but quickly realised that he could no longer hear the others either.

“...... Okay…. That’s weird. They were talking too me before I woke you up.”

“.... Maybe you’re hearing things.” Lance gaped at Keith and prepared to fire a report back, but he stopped and smiled when he saw a flash of amusement in Keith’s eyes.

“Nah, I reckon they're just in a blackout area. Where no signal an get through.” Lance said, and Keith nodded.

“.... But still. Where are we or do you not know?”

“Relax mullet. We’re on Kubos so you especially need to keep your helmet on.”

“You say that as if I take my helmet off all the time. Which I don’t.”

“But you might this time!”

“No I won’t Lance. I’m not stupid.”

“Hmmm…. Experience says otherwise.”

“What experience!”

“Keith. I was joking.”

“Oh.”

Silence reigned for a minute after the little spat and Lance shifted. He wasn’t too comfortable with the silence, and he also wasn’t used to silence. Luckily for him, Keith decided he wanted to get up and stretch, or just go outside so Lance eagerly followed him, scrambling out of the lions mouth.

Keith stood in front of him taking in the sea of pink leaves and yellow grass, so Lance moved to stand beside him. With both of their lions out of commission they had to rely on the castle, but now they had lost connection with said castle. They were fucked, basically.

Luckily, Keith seemed to know where they were after a minute of looking around, as he set off walking in a seemingly random direction. Lance huffed and stumbled after him.

* * *

 

They’d been walking for a few hours when Keith heard it. He’d stopped Lance, who had fallen silent an hour ago. The taller boy had taken to walking next to him and looking in-between the trees at the blood red lake that was visible if you knew what to look for. Keith had deduced that they had crashed in the Gzrala, a huge forest that was easy to get lost in.

Lance had already stopped when Keith hissed a warning, blue eyes flickering about warily before the explosion took them by surprise and sent them both flying.

* * *

 

Lance groaned and sat up, blinking at the pink leaves. He tried to remember what happened, where he was, and why the fuck the leaves were pink. It took him a minute, but he gasped upon the realisation that his helmet was shattered. Shit. His helmet was the one thing protecting him from the air. Communication was an added bonus but now there was nothing. Nothing at all.

A weak groan caught his attention, and he looked over to his left and the remaining breath in his lungs left with a gasp. When they crashed in the lions, Keith hadn’t been hurt, per say. He’d been knocked out but he woke up pretty quick, and his helmet had been intact. This time he wasn't so lucky. First off, Keith didn’t even have his helmet on. The glass was shattered next to the red and white helmet, which was next to Keith. The smaller boy was sprawled on his side, half resting against a tree. There was blood on the blue bark of the tree, and a pool of blood surrounding Keith’s head. He crawled over too the older boy, cursing quietly as he went.

He was relieved when Keith moved, albeit sluggishly and dazed. His indigo eyes were dull but he was alert enough to follow Lance’s movements with his eyes, and to mutter a question that Lance huffed at. He tried to help Lance, not resisting as Lance helped him sit up and check his head, mumbled answers that Lance hoped were honest about how he was feeling and allowed Lance to bandage his head.

Keith seemed a bit more alert after he had a drink, eyes a bit brighter. When he looked at Lance again he frowned, and and prodded Lance’s cheek. Lance flinched and Keith narrowed his eyes.

“What happened to you’re cheek, it’s bleeding.” He said quietly and Lance sighed.

“It’s just a scratch, Keith. Nothing compared to your head.” He replied and hoisted Keith too his feet, keeping a loose hold of Keith’s wrist in case he fell. He stumbled but caught himself quickly and huffed, blowing hair out of his face.

“I think the atmosphere is getting to me already, before the blast I was feeling kinda warm, but not uncomfortable. Now i’m almost too cold.” he hissed and Lance frowned.

“...... But it isn’t cold, Keith. I’m sweating.”

“......... Oh.”

It was silent for a minute before Keith shook his head, managing to hide the wince the action caused from Lance as he started heading back towards the lions.

“W--wait! Where are you going?” Lance asked, quickly running to catch up too him.

“Back to Red. Hopefully we can connect with the castle and they can pick us up before anything else happens.”

“Good idea. I’ll see if I can contact them in Blue.”

Keith nodded and they walked on in silence, next to each other. Lance occasionally glancing at Keith, or forcing him to stop so he could check his head. Luckily it wasn’t too bad of an injury. It was only a small gash really, but all the blood had made it look worse, and Lance’s only real fear was that the red paladin would end up affected by blood loss.

Oh, if only that was the only thing Lance had to worry about.

* * *

 

Lance sighed, trying to contact the castle for what felt like the 100th time. He’d been trying since they’d reached the lion’s, but he’d moved to Red as Keith had gotten weaker and weaker. Now, the red paladin was unconscious and shivering uncontrollably. Lance had moved so that Keith’s head was resting on his legs, propping him up slightly so that when the older boy coughed, he had a smaller risk of choking. He, gently brushed the hair out of Keith’s face and looked up at the sky. When they’d first crashed there was only a small sense of urgency to get off Kubos. But that was before the explosion that broke their helmets, and before Keith got sick.

Now there was a very real possibility that they’d both die on this stupid planet, and he’d have to watch his rival - turned - friend - turned - secret crush die in his arms, that he’d have to bury Keith, and he wasn’t ready to do that. He’d never be ready to do that. He closed his eyes and moved to let his head rest on the tree behind him.

What was he meant to do now?

* * *

 

It was around midday when Lance woke up. Or around that. He wasn’t sure.

Lance looked down and sighed, taking in how pale Keith was, and how shallow his breathing was. Shit, this wasn’t good. Keith was down for the count and he could feel how shaky his limbs were. Besides, Keith was running out of time.

He tried to stand up, move, do something, but he just… couldn’t…

Lance’s head dropped, chin hitting his chest as he slipped back into unconsciousness.

* * *

 

Three days later he woke up, surrounded by familiar faces. Hunk was crying and Katie was scowling, but they both were quick to say how relieved they were that he was awake. Coran and Allura both joined in, with Coran helping him sit up and Allura handing him a bowl of food. Shiro didn’t didn’t do anything extravagant, he just smiled and told him he was glad he was okay, then put a hand on his shoulder and thanked him under his breath. Lance was confused for a second until he remembered. Keith. He gasped, dropping the spoon and looking around frantically. “Where’s Keith?!”

“Lance, calm down. He’s resting on another bed, right there.” Shiro said and Lance took a deep breath, looking at where Shiro was pointing and taking in the slow rise and fall of the raven’s chest. The oxygen mask covering his mouth and nose. The bandage around his head.

“... you said he’s resting, right? So he’s okay.”

“Mostly. He’s in the same situation that you were in a few vargas ago, but he lost a lot more quintessence than you did, so we need to keep a closer eye on him.” Allura explains. Lance nodded and picked the spoon back up, slowly taking a mouthful.

* * *

 

Keith woke up a week later. The teen was confused at everyone gathering around him, and Lance hugging him tightly. It wasn’t until Shiro explained what had happened, and that he’d been asleep for a week and a half that he started to understand what had happened. The teen was really weak at first, and Lance at one point had to spoon feed him, much to Keith’s disgust.  

But it was okay, because Keith was okay, and in that moment it was all that mattered to Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk when the next one will be out.


End file.
